


Melody Of Love

by AnomieWrites



Category: IT (Movies - Muschietti), IT - Stephen King
Genre: Abusive Sonia Kaspbrak, All these damn tags, Alternate Universe - Different First Meeting, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Music, Alternate Universe - No Pennywise (IT), Alternate Universe - Teenagers, Anal Sex, Angst with a Happy Ending, Author Is Sleep Deprived, Background Relationships, Bad Pick-Up Lines, Beverly Marsh & Richie Tozier Are Best Friends, Big Dick Tozier, Big Gay Love Story, Birthday Sex, Bisexual Richie Tozier, Boys In Love, Boys Kissing, Child Abuse, Child Neglect, Childhood Trauma, Consensual Underage Sex, Cuddling & Snuggling, Cute Ending, Declarations Of Love, Denial of Feelings, Dorks in Love, Drug Use, Dry Humping, Eddie Kaspbrak Deserves Better, Eddie Kaspbrak Loves Richie Tozier, Eddie Kaspbrak is Bad at Feelings, Eddie Kaspbrak is a Mess, Eddie Kaspbrak is a Tease, Eddie Kaspbrak/Richie Tozier-centric, Eddie is a bird set free, Eddie is legal now y'all! Lol, Eddie is obsessed with Nick Jonas, Eddie is so cute, Endgame Eddie Kaspbrak/Richie Tozier, Eskimo Kisses, Established Ben Hanscom/Beverly Marsh, Falling In Love, Feelings Realization, Fics gonna end with Eddie being 18 and Richie being 19, First Dates, First Kiss, First Meetings, First Time, First Time Blow Jobs, First Time Bottoming, Flirting, Fluff and Angst, Fluff and Humor, Fluff and Smut, Food Kink, Food Sex, Gay Eddie Kaspbrak, Gay Mike Hanlon, Hand Jobs, Happy Ending, Homophobia, Homophobic Language, Homophobic Slurs, Homophobic Sonia Kaspbrak, Horny Teenagers, Hotel Sex, Hugs, I Tried, I Will Go Down With This Ship, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, I'm Bad At Tagging, I'm Sorry, I'm so proud of this, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Literal Sleeping Together, Loss of Virginity, Love Confessions, Love at First Sight, Love songs, M/M, Marijuana, Meant To Be, Meet-Cute, Melody Of Love, Mentioned Frank Kaspbrak, Mentioned Maggie Tozier, Mentions of Cancer, Minor Beverly Marsh/Richie Tozier, Minor Canonical Character(s), Minor Character Death, Minor Mike Hanlon/Stanley Uris, Minor Original Character(s), Minor Violence, Music, Nick Jonas is an awesome coach, Okay I'm done tagging now...lol, Oral Sex, POV Richie Tozier, Pennywise who??, Porn With Plot, Porn with Feelings, Recreational Drug Use, Reddie, Reddie Forever, Richie Has A Vault Full Of Bad Pick-Up Lines, Richie Tozier & Stanley Uris Are Best Friends, Richie Tozier Flirts, Richie Tozier Has a Big Dick, Richie Tozier Has a Crush on Eddie Kaspbrak, Richie Tozier Loves Eddie Kaspbrak, Richie Tozier is Whipped, Richie gets lucky on his birthday, Richie is 18 and Eddie is 17, Richie is such a softie, Rimming, Sassy Stanley Uris, Sharing a Bed, Singing, Singing Competition, Sleep? what is that?, Sleeping Together, Slow Build, Slow Burn, Slow Romance, Smoking, Sneaking Out, Soft Richie Tozier, Song: Bird Set Free (Sia), Song: Eddie Baby, Song: Future (Etham), Song: Lay Me Down (Sam Smith), Songs for days, Sonia Kaspbrak Being Terrible, Sonia Kaspbrak sucks, Sonia Kaspbrak's A+ Parenting, Sonia is a shitty person, Soulmates, Stan Gives Good Advice, Stan and Mike are supportive af, Stanley Uris is a Good Friend, Struggling With One's Self, Sweet, Teen Angst, Teen Romance, The Jonas Brothers are in this, The Voice, Things get better towards the end, Underage Sex, Underage Smoking, Virginity, Warm and Fuzzy Feelings, Wentworth Tozier Being an Asshole, Whipped Cream, mild violence, so is Richie, they live happily ever after
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-21
Updated: 2020-05-09
Packaged: 2021-02-28 19:14:45
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 20
Words: 39,360
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23242339
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AnomieWrites/pseuds/AnomieWrites
Summary: Richie Tozier goes on 'The Voice' with a determination to win, that is until he runs into a short, doe-eyed man with a voice of an angel. Will Richie be able to out-sing the best of them or will his voice crack under pressure?
Relationships: Eddie Kaspbrak/Richie Tozier, Minor or Background Relationship(s)
Comments: 36
Kudos: 249
Collections: COVID_19 REDDIE RAMBLINGS





	1. And The Story Begins...

**Author's Note:**

> THIS IS THE VOICE *theme songs plays*  
> Here's a singing competition AU no one asked for! 🙃🙃

Richie’s bounced his leg nervously as he waited.

 _Oh God…I think I went flat during the chorus. I hope they didn’t notice..._ Richie thought, chewing relentlessly on his bottom lip.

Richie had been through this rodeo before. Three times actually. The first time, he showed up with his guitar and dressed in a chicken costume. He was escorted out of the building immediately. How was he supposed to know that both of those were against the rules?

The second time, he managed to catch a head cold the day before his audition. He walked into the room confidently and opened his mouth to sing. Unfortunately, for him no sound same out. The security silently led him out into the main lobby.

The third time he auditioned, these particular set of producers were being assholes to him. They talked about the way he dressed, how his hair looked, and even one the judges told him to take his glasses off.

“Ummm sir…I don’t know if you think I’m wearing these as a fashion statement, but I’m not…I actually need these to see.” Richie said sardonically. 

The producer scoffed and rolled his eyes. “Get him out of here, he doesn’t seem to want to be on ‘The Voice’ with that attitude.”

Richie’s mouth dropped open, shocked. “Wait! You’re gonna kick me out over— get off me man! I know how to walk on my own!” Richie snatched his arm away from the security guard.

Now, here he sat, his dark curls much tamer than last time, wearing a long-sleeved gray Henley, blue jeans and black Chukka boots, and contacts.

Immediately after Richie was (rudely) led out of the building where the auditions were held, he went to his optometrist to get contacts.

“Now, do you need me to show how to put them in or—” Dr. Fernandez began.

“No! No…I think I got it.” Richie said uneasily. Richie looked down at the thin, curved lens and internally cringed.

“I can do this…” he breathed out as he reached up and used both of his hands to open his eye.

“Okay…first part done now just—” He looked up and moved his finger with the lens on it to his eye.

“Uh Mr. Tozier…are you sure you don’t need any—”

“I got it, Doc!” Richie yelled.

Dr. Fernandez threw her hands up and sighed. “Okay…you got it.”

Richie stayed frozen in that position for another two minutes. He suddenly let go of his eye and blinked. “Well Doc…I gotta say, these fucking contacts are shit. I’m blinder than before!”

“Well Richie…that’s because you didn’t actually put the lens in…” Dr. Fernandez said, smiling patiently.

Richie hung his head. “Fuck…I can’t do this, Doc…just the thought of touching my eye just makes me…” Richie shuddered.

“Well that’s completely normal, most people have a hard time the first time around. This what I want you to do when you get home. After you’ve washed and dried your hands, just practice touching your eye. At first, you won’t like it, but overtime you’ll be popping your contacts in like a professional.” Dr. Fernandez said, smiling.

Richie returned the smile and nodded. “Okay, I’ll get right on it as soon as I get home.”

Richie didn’t touch those contacts again for two weeks.

🎶🎶🎶🎶🎶

It was when he saw a commercial for 'The Voice' playing that he even considered them. The producer’s voice played over and over in his mind, infuriating him.

He rushed up to his bathroom and threw open his medicine cabinet. Grabbing the contact case and opening it, he sneered down at the lens like they were teasing him.

“Scaredy cat! Scaredy cat! You can’t touch your eye!!” the high-pitched voice sung to him in the back of his mind.

“Fuck you! I’m not scared! I can fucking do this!” Richie shouted.

He took off his glasses, washed and dried his hands, opened the lens’ case, picked up the lens and opened his eye.

He stayed like that for a few moments until he let out a sigh of defeat. “I can’t fucking do this…” he nearly sobbed out.

The voice giggled. “Told ya.”

That lit a spark in Richie. He opened his eye again, looked up and gently placed the lens on the white of his eye.

He looked down and blinked rapidly, his vision in his right eye suddenly becoming clearer.

“Wooo! Fuck yes!! I told you I could I fucking do it!!” Richie laughed as he celebrated.

“Who the fuck are you talking to in here?” Stan asked, busting through the bathroom door. Richie jumped and looked at him.

“Dude…you look so fucking clear in my right eye!” Richie exclaimed.

Stan’s face twisted up in confusion. “When did you get contacts?”

“Two weeks ago…I’m going to try out for 'The Voice' again.” Richie said casually. 

Stan crossed his arms and leaned against the doorframe. “Are you sure, Richie? The last time those producers—”

“I know Stan…” Richie snapped. He winced at his tone and sighed. “Sorry…look I know man, but that’s why I’m changing my look. If all it takes for me to get in there is to tame my hair, change my wardrobe, and get some fucking contacts, then I’m willing to do it.”

“So you’re okay with not being true to yourself?” Stan asked, raising his eyebrow.

Richie looked at him. “Stan…please…”

“Alright! Okay…I’ll leave you alone…but after I say this…if you’re doing all of this just so you can show the world how much you love music, is it really worth it?” Stan gave him a look that said, 'think about it' and walked away.

Richie put his hands on the sink and groaned. “It is fucking worth it! It’s so fucking worth it…” Richie chanted to himself as he put the other contact in.

🎶🎶🎶🎶🎶

“Richard Tozier!”

Richie was ripped out of his reverie when one of the production assistants called his name.

“Here! I’m right here…” he stood up from his chair and raised his hand. The PA walked briskly over to him and handed him a red card.

With a bright smile, the PA said, “Congratulations! You got a callback!”

Richie’s brain quickly shorted out. “What?” He asked dumbly.

The PA grabbed his hand and placed the red card in it. It took him a minute to register what was happening.

He looked down at the red card and screamed. “Wha— Oh my fucking god!” He grabbed the PA and spun him around.

“Alright dude! Put me down!” The PA laughed.

He cleared his throat and continued to talk. “Alright, the producers want you back here on Wednesday at 10:00AM sharp okay?”

Richie nodded, a wide smile on his face.

“Okay…you may be asked to perform a song of the producer’s choice, but just in case you need to have at three songs already prepared. You can have one person accompany you, and also you can have a music accompaniment, so if you play any instrument of any kind, you can bring it along, but also remember that you must perform one song without the instrument.”

 _Fucking yes!!! I can’t believe this!! Wait until I tell Stan!!_ Richie thought as the PA continued.

“Okay! You’re all set to go! Congrats again and good luck on your journey!” The PA patted Richie on the shoulder and walked away.

Richie did his victory dance all the way to his car. As soon as he was in, he called Stan. The phone rang three times before it went to voicemail.

“I guess I gotta tell him in person.” Richie smiled widely and cheered. He climbed out of his car once he parked and ran up to the door.

“Staniel!! Guess who got a callback!!” Richie sang as he pranced through the door. Stan didn’t answer, so Richie went looking for him. “Stanley!! Stan the Man!!” Richie said, in a sing-song voice.

“Stanley guess wha--- ahhhh!!!” Richie burst into Stan’s room and screamed at the sight before him! 

"What the fuck?!” Stan yelled as he fumbled off of the guy under him.

“Oh fuck! Stan! I’m sooo sorry dude…” Richie said, covering his eyes.

“What the fuck man?! I thought you were still at auditions?!” Stan shouted.

“I got a fucking callback man!!!” Richie screamed, uncovering his eyes.

Stan had grabbed a sheet and wrapped it around him. “Are you fucking serious? You’re not fucking around this time, are you Richie?”

Richie pulled the red card from his back pocket and showed Stan. "I'm not fucking around this time man!"

“Holy fucking shit!! You did it man!!” Stan grabbed Richie by the shoulders and started jumping with him, the sheet falling in the process.

“Oh fuck! Ummm…yeah dude I’m just—” Richie closed his eyes and stumbled back towards the exit. “I’m Richie by the way! His roommate!” Richie bumped into the doorframe a few times before successfully stepping out.

“Hey Richie! I'm Mike!” he heard the guy yell back before he closed the door.

Richie shook his head, clearing that scarring image of his best friend. He looked down at the red card and kissed it. “I finally did it, mom.” Richie placed the card over his heart and looked up towards the sky. 

🎶🎶🎶🎶🎶

“There’s a lot of people here.” Stan said, looking around. Richie had his eyes closed, trying to control his breathing.

“I know man…god! I’m so fucking nervous…” Richie doubled over in his chair, wrapping his arms around his middle.

“Okay no…no panic attacks on my watch! Breathe.” Stan guided him through his breathing exercises. “You okay?” Stan asked when he saw Richie’s breathing slow down.

“Yeah…I’m good.” Richie breathed out.

Stan patted him on the back and said, “I’m gonna go find you a bottle of water.” Stan stood up and began searching.

“Room temperature please!” Richie called after him.

Richie was trying to focus on his breathing when he began to overhear a woman talking.

“You need to work on that note in the second verse, Eddie bear! You were flat…” the woman's voice demanded. 

“Ma…I wasn’t flat, the note is perfectly fine, plus I need to save my voice for my audition…” a boy replied. 

“Don’t talk back to me, Eddie! You know I hate it when you do that!” the woman's voice yelled. 

Richie looked over to where the shouting was coming from. _Whoa! Who knew Jubba the Hutt had a sister?_ Richie thought, laughing to himself.

Richie heard the boy sigh deeply. “Ugh Ma…I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to talk back—” 

“You always hurt my feelings, Eddie…” Jubba’s sister sobbed, taking out tissues from her purse and wiping her face. Richie saw a hand wrap around and try to comfort her.

The boy tried to speak. “Ma—”

“No! I’m going to run to the little lady’s room and when I get back that attitude of yours better be gone!” Jubba's sister scolded, walking away.

Richie let out a low whistle and he thought, _Well hellllloooo, nurse!_

His eyes widened as he stared at the boy Jubba's sister revealed. The boy leaned against the wall and crossed his arms, shaking his head.

“Alright…you can do this, just go talk to him…you can talk to him, he’s only a guy…” Richie gave himself a pep talk as he got up and walked over to where the boy was standing.

 _A very fucking attractive guy…Christ!_ Richie thought as he got closer to him. He might’ve been cute from afar, but up close, he was beautiful.

Dark brown, curly hair that was styled perfectly compared to Richie’s and full lips that were pinker than Richie’s favorite flavor of starburst.

Richie felt like his heart stopped when his big, doe-like eyes locked on him. They were the most gorgeous honey colored eyes Richie has ever seen. Richie also noticed that he towered over this dude.

 _Fuck!_ Richie thought as he was starting to lose some of his nerves. He smiled when finally reached him.

“Can I help you?” The boy asked, his brow furrowing.

“Uhh…I…uhh…” Richie couldn’t form words, he was too busy trying to count the freckles that were sprinkled across this boy's cute button nose.

_You’re blowing it, fucking blowing it!!_

Richie could feel his hands shaking as panic began to set in. He breathed out and shook his head, his panic slowly subsiding. He leaned into the boy's space, grinning.

“Were you born in 1789? Because you’re a real classical beauty.” Richie said, wiggling his eyebrows. 

The boy stared at him for a moment, then burst out laughing. It was like a symphony to Richie’s ears.

“What the fuck dude? Do you use that pick-up line on everybody?” The boy said through a fit a giggles.

Richie shook his head. “No, I normally try to save the classical pick-up lines for the lucky ones.”

The boy crossed his arms and smirked. “Oh? What’s makes me so lucky?” Richie straightened up and shoved his hands in his pockets.

“I don’t know, I guess I’m a sucker for the vertically challenged…” Richie said, shrugging.

“Oh fuck off!” the boy said, the dimples in his cheeks deepening as he smiled.

 _Oh fuck!_ Richie thought again. Richie cleared his throat and asked, “So…are you nervous?”

The boy nodded. “Hell yeah I’m nervous! My mom has been ragging on me about this note and I keep telling her that is fine.”

“Wait Jubba— I mean that’s your mom? I wouldn’t have guessed…” Richie corrected himself, laughing nervously.

“Yeah she can be a real bitch sometimes…” the boy sighed.

“Yeah I could tell by the way she was yelling at you…” the boy's face flushed red and Richie felt himself swoon.

He facepalmed. “You heard that? Oh God…that’s fucking humiliating…”

“I’m pretty sure I was the only one who…” Richie trailed off as the boy gave him a blank look.

“I’m Richie…Richie Tozier.” He held out his hand. The boy hesitated before reaching out and taking his hand, shaking it.

“Eddie Kaspbrak.” he said softly. 

_Oh fucking fuck…his hand is so soft…why is his hand so soft?! How the fuck is this possible?!_ Richie internally screamed.

Eddie’s hand was gone just as quickly as he put in Richie’s and Richie had to fight back a whine.

“Eddie-bear!!! You get away from him right now!!” a shrill voice came booming across the room.

Richie and Eddie both turned and looked at the same time as Eddie’s mom came rushing over to them.

Richie waved at her. “Hi, my name is—”

“I don’t care what your name is! I know your type! Trying to get my boy to lose, but not on my watch!” She grabbed Eddie by the arm and yanked him away.

“Ma! Stop you’re embarrassing me!” Eddie snatched his arm away and walked in front of her.

“Eddie…don’t you snatch away from me!” she cried out after him.

“Wow…yeah totally getting ‘Mommie Dearest’ vibes from her…” Richie said to himself.

Stan walked up to him. “There you are! I was fucking looking everywhere for you!” Stan hissed.

“Did you check in this corner?” Richie laughed when Stan threw the bottle of water at him. “Ow! Don’t damage the goods! I need this to win.” Richie gestured to his face.

“Good thing it’s called ‘The Voice’ then…” Stan smirked.

“Fuck you!” Richie laughed even harder and they walked back to the seating area. 


	2. My Eyes Adore You

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Richie rushed into the studio and came face to face the same asshole producers who told him to change his look. After a brief back and forth with them, they tell Richie to show them what he's got. Richie placed the headsets on his head and breathed out as the first track started playing. 
> 
> _Okay Tozier, focus…you can think about Eddie later…this is your moment of truth…you can do this, you got this!_

“Edward Kaspbrak! You’re up next!”

Richie watched as Eddie and his “mother” (Richie still couldn’t believe something like that gave birth to such a gorgeous creature like Eddie fucking Kaspbrak) walk up to the PA that called him.

Richie couldn't help, but to stare at Eddie. To admire the cute way he rolled his eyes and shook his head, all the way down to how he popped his hip out when he crossed his arms. Richie just knew he was in trouble.

 _I need to talk to him again, to have those beautiful brown eyes look at me again, to hear that enchanting laugh of his again…fuck! It’s official…I’m hooked!_ Richie thought as Eddie handed the PA his CD.

“Oooo! He’s cute!” Stan said, checking Eddie out.

“I called dibs on him first…” Richie said still staring.

“You can’t fucking call dibs on a human being Richie…that’s oppressive as fuck…” Richie gave Stan the side eye.

“When the hell did you become so woke?” Richie did air quotes around the word "woke".

“Ever since Mike put me up on game— what? The fuck are you laughing at?” Stan frowned. 

Richie snorted. “Stop talking like that seriously…it doesn’t suit you…”

Stan rolled his eyes. “Whatever.” They continued to watch Eddie and his mom as they talked with the PA.

“What do you mean I can’t go in there?! I’m his mother!!” Eddie’s mom screamed.

Eddie grabbed his mom's shoulders. “Ma! Calm down! I’ll only be in there—”

She pushed him aside and got in the PA's face. “No! Do you know how hard I’ve worked to get him here and now you’re telling me; I can’t be in there with him!”

“Ma’am, the p-p-producers only w-want the—”

The PA stuttered before Eddie’s mom cut him off. “I DON’T CARE WHAT THEY WANT! I HAVE EVERY RIGHT TO BE IN THAT STUDIO WITH HIM!” Eddie facepalmed and shook his head.

“Aaanndd my boner’s gone…a shame, he’s cute and all, but his mom…fucking yikes.” Stan said, shaking his head.

“Yeah…he is cute isn’t he?” Richie sighed, dreamily. He propped his elbow on his thigh and rested his chin in his palm, gazing at Eddie with lovesick eyes.

Stan waved his hand in front of Richie’s face. “Uhhh…earth to Richie…have you seen the massive hell on wheels that is his mom?”

“Yeah…I have…it’s no problem though…I like a challenge.” Richie said confidently.

Stan scoffed. “A challenge? More like the fucking Wall of China…good luck getting through that…” Stan clapped him on the back.

“I have my ways, Stanley…” Richie threw him a sly grin.

The PA finally let Eddie and his mom into the studio after she basically called him every name besides the child of God.

“Looks like she won that battle…” Stan leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms.

“I wonder what genre of music he’s gonna be singing? Do you think he’s a tenor…or-or-or maybe he’s a bass…can you fucking imagine that? Someone that tiny sounding like Barry fucking White… _god!_...that would be so fucking hot…” Richie bit his lip.

“Okay…while you fantasize about Mr. Diminutive having a deep voice, I’m just gonna go mingle, see what your competition is looking like. Text me when they call you.” Richie was still in his daydream while Stan got up and walked away.

“Why yes Eddie…I would love for you to sing to me…oh! You want to do a duet together? I’m sure our voices harmonize perfectly together…” Richie giggled as he closed his eyes and started swaying. 

🎶🎶🎶🎶🎶

“Richard Tozier! You’re up next!”

Richie’s eyes shot open when he heard his name called. He hastily shot Stan a text and got up, rushing over to the PA.

“Got your red card and your accompaniment? The PA asked, smiling.

Richie reached into his back pocket and grabbed the red card. “Here you go—”

The PA held a hand out. “Oh no it’s yours to keep, just making sure you were supposed to be here and your accompaniment?”

Richie groped around in his other pocket for his CD. He started panicking. “Oh shit! I must’ve left it in the car! Fuck!”

The PA pursed his lips and shook his head. “Well you have other songs prepared without the accompaniment, right?”

Richie was about to answer when Stan rushed up besides him. “Here you go man…I forgot to give you this…” Stan handed him the CD.

Richie let a big sigh of relief. “Oh fuck! Thank you Stan, you imperious, lovable nerd!” Richie pulled him in a tight hug.

“You’re wel— wait! What the fuck did you—” Stan frowned. Richie pulled away and rushed into the studio before Stan could rip him a new one.

Richie came face to face with the same asshole producers that told him he needed to change his look.

The Simon Cowell wannabe narrowed his eyes at Richie. “Say…you look familiar,” he looked down at Richie's paperwork. “Oh yeah Richie Tozier! I love the new look man!”

Richie smiled wryly. “Thank you…wanted you all to see that I had the right attitude for ‘The Voice’.” Richie said dryly.

The producer laughed blithely at Richie’s tone. “So what three songs have you prepared for us today?”

“Sober by Bad Wolves, Shooting Stars by Rival Sons, and Ghost by Badflower…” The producers made an impressed face.

“Hmmm…all very good choices…let’s hear them then…” Richie nodded and handed the PA his CD.

Richie placed the headsets on his head and breathed out as the first track started playing.

 _Okay Tozier, focus…you can think about Eddie later…this is your moment of truth…you can do this, you got this!_ Richie thought more determined than ever. 

🎶🎶🎶🎶🎶

Stan rushed up to Richie as soon as he walked out. “So how do you think you did?” Richie looked down and sighed.

“Stan…” Richie said weakly.

Stan made a sympathetic noise and put his hand on Richie’s shoulder. “There’s always next time man…”

“There isn’t gonna be a next time because I fucking made it on the show!!!!” Richie bellowed out.

Stan yelped in surprise as Richie picked him up and started jumping with him.

Stan’s voice shook as Richie jumped up and down with him. "Alright, Richie!" He fought to get out of Richie’s grip.

“Fucking put me down or I’m gonna throw up on you!” Richie suddenly dropped him and groaned in disgust. Stan stumbled a little before righting himself.

“You would seriously throw up on me after I just received the best fucking news of my life…” Richie said incredulously. 

“If you would’ve kept shaking me up, yep I would.” Stan smiled smugly. Richie groaned again.

“Back on the topic at hand…you’re gonna be on ‘The Voice’ Richie!! Oh my god!!!” Stan hugged Richie warmly.

“I know…I…I did it…I did it man…” Richie felt tears welled up in his eyes.

“Maggie would be so fucking proud of you, no scratch that…she is so fucking proud of you right now…” Stan squeezed Richie as he sobbed into his shoulder.

Richie finally pulled himself together and leaned away from Stan. “Thanks man…I can feel that she’s proud of me.”

“Come on…” Stan threw his arm around Richie’s shoulder. “Let’s go Google these fucking coaches and see whose team you’re gonna be on.”

Richie wiped his face and nodded, letting Stan lead him out of the building. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Richie obviously daydreams about him and Eddie singing a duet together, because why not? 😌


	3. Cheesy Pick Up Lines and Cute Nicknames

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Richie is a little more than irritated when he finds out that he has to stay in a hotel for a month in order to film for the show, but things are suddenly looking up when he crosses paths once again with Eddie. A few very cheesy pick up lines later, Richie and Eddie have established nicknames for each other.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! I'm back! Sorry it took so long to update...got a lot personal things going on and also had a bad bout of writer's block. 😣 I'm good now though! Hope you all enjoy! 😊

“I honestly don’t see the point of me staying in a hotel.” Richie grumbled as he roughly stuffed some shirts into his duffel bag.

“Wait…wait a fucking minute…you’re gonna be staying in a hotel, for _free_ might I add, and you’re bitching about it? Am I being punked? Where are the cameras? Alright, Ashton you can come out now!” Stan said, looking around the room for any signs of a prank being played on him.

Richie flipped him off and went back to packing his bag. “I’m just saying…I live in here in L.A…what’s the fucking point?”

Stan laid back on Richie’s bed and put his hands behind his head. “Honestly, I’m all for this…now I don’t have to worry about you barging in my room when I’m entertaining my guest.”

Richie groaned loudly and rolled his eyes. “Oh fuck off…I walked in on you and Mike fucking once—”

“It was twice! I thought you learned your lesson the first time…I put a sock on the door and everything!” Richie was fighting back his laughter while Stan ranted.

“Alright! Cut me some slack! The first time only happened because I was excited to tell you about my callback, the second time…” Richie couldn’t contain his laughter anymore. Stan threw a pillow at his head.

“Who knew you had a daddy kink, Stanny?” Richie cackled as he dodged it.

“Fuck you!” Stan hissed, his face turning a crimson red.

“No…I think it was more like, “Fuck me Daddy Mikey!” Richie mocked Stan’s moans while dry humping his bag.

“I’m gonna fucking kill you!” Stan jumped up off the bed and tackled Richie, trying to wrap his hands around his neck.

Richie was still dying of laughter, mushing Stan’s face with the palm of his hand. Both of their heads snapped to the right when they heard a knock at Richie’s bedroom door.

Mike stood there with two takeout bags in his hands, looking wide eyed at them. “Ummm…am I interrupting something?”

“Not at all Dad—” Stan slapped his hand over Richie’s mouth.

“No babe…Richie was just packing up his shit and leaving!” Stan groaned in disgust and yanked his hand away from Richie’s mouth when he licked the palm of his hand.

Stan sneered at him and brought his hand down, smearing his own saliva on his face.

Richie screamed and shook his head. “Ugh! Stan no!! Fuck you for using my own ammunition against me!”

“Serves you fucking right!” Stan stood up and wiped his hand against his jeans, walking over to Mike. “Thanks for the food, love.” He gave him a quick peck on the lips.

“Get a room you two!” Richie groaned, propping up on his elbows.

“Oh we will…we’re gonna get two actually…mine and yours…” Stan smirked.

Richie stood up faster than his body allowed, and he stumbled a bit, feeling light headed. "Whoa shit…hey," he pointed at Stan and Mike, “None of that freaky-deaky shit in my room when I’m gone, alright!” Mike covered his mouth to hide his laughter.

“You think that’s funny, huh? I’m gonna buy a blacklight and if I find any trace of your love mayo on any surface of my shit, I’m calling the police!” Richie yelled as he zipped up his bag. 

“Oh please! They would arrest you before they would arrest us!” Stan crossed his arms.

Richie snorted and said, “Oh yeah? What makes you so sure of that, Staniel?”

A smug grin flashed across Stan’s face as he said, “They’ll take one look at you and arrest you for indecent exposure, assface!”

“Good one babe!” Mike laughed, high-fiving Stan.

Richie just stared at Stan, impassively. “I think you broke him…” Mike whispered after a moment.

“Stan…” Richie finally said, throwing his bag over his shoulder. He clapped Stan on the shoulder and said, “Consider the Trashmouth…thoroughly trashed. Congratulations.”

Stan looked taken aback. “Wait what?”

“Yeah Stan…you have roasted me to completion…” Richie walked past them and into the living room.

He was halfway out the door when he turned around. Stan and Mike had moved out of his room and were now standing in the hallway.

“See you later Stan the Man,” he looked at Mike, “See you later…Daddy Mikey…” He winked and went to close the door behind him, cackling when Stan shrieked his name.

🎶🎶🎶🎶🎶

“Hi uh I have a room here…my name is Richie Tozier.” Richie said as soon he as walked up to the front desk.

“Is that supposed to mean something to me, kid?” the receptionist replied, unimpressed.

“Uh yeah…like I just said I have a room here. The executive producers for ‘The Voice’ booked for me.”

The receptionist gave him a once over and scoffed, rolling her eyes.

 _What a bitch! Who pissed in her cheerios this morning?_ Richie thought as she handed him his room key.

“You’re the 5th floor and your room number 522, kid.”

“Thanks.” Richie said dryly.

The receptionist gave him a dirty look when he snatched the room key out of her hand.

“What was her fucking problem?” Richie muttered to himself as he boarded the elevator.

He watched the numbers on the screen intently as the elevator got closer to his floor.

The elevator stopped and a pleasant voice rung out, letting him know he had made it to the fifth floor.

Richie’s footsteps on the carpeted floor echoed in the empty hallway as he made his way to his room.

“520...521...522…cool.” He inserted his room key and stepped inside.

Richie looked around the room and immediately noticed the hideous duvet cover and curtains. “Okay, totally getting a Ron Jeremy filmed a porno in here kinda vibe.”

He ventured further in the room and put his bag down on a desk that looked like it was one more accidental hip bump from breaking down.

He checked out the bathroom and noticed the shower curtains matched the carpet.

“Good to know the carpet matches the drapes.” He internally cringed at what he said before moving over to the mirror. He stared at his glassless reflection and sighed.

_If you’re doing all of this just so you can show the world how much you love music, is it really worth it?_

Stan’s voice echoed in the back of his mind. Richie closed his eyes and hung his head. He exhaled forlornly. “Yes Stanley…to me it really is worth it.”

🎶🎶🎶🎶🎶

Richie didn’t realize that he had fallen asleep until he woke up to the sound of his stomach growling.

“Fuck…what time is it?” He muttered to himself as hesquinted over at the little clock on the bedside table.

He made out a very blurry 2:20AM. Richie groaned and rolled over on his back, stretching his arms high above his head.

He felt a sense of relief wash over him as his joints audibly popped, moaning out, "Fuck...that felt good." 

Richie sat up and groped for the switch on the lamp.

Once the room was lit up, he looked on the table for his phone and saw his thick, black glasses sitting there, neglected. He could practically hear them begging him to put them on.

He sighed heavily and said, “Oh my god! Fine, but only for the food run…” 

Richie didn’t know when he started talking to inanimate objects, but he figured it was fine as long as nobody was around to see him and if they did…he honestly didn’t fucking care.

Richie reached out and grabbed them. He stared down at them for a moment, Stan’s voice playing in his mind again.

“Alright Staniel…you’ve made your point.” Richie said, rolling his eyes.

Richie slipped his glasses on and threw his legs over the side of the bed. He grabbed his phone, stepped into his shoes and headed out into the hallway.

Richie was halfway down the hall when a figure quietly stepped one out of the rooms. Richie immediately recognized that figure to be the one and only Eddie Kaspbrak.

Eddie leaned against the door and slid down, pulling his knees to his chest and resting his head on them.

 _God or whoever is up there…thank you!_ Richie thought giddily.

He shoved his hands in his pockets and ambled over to Eddie. Richie leaned against the wall and said, “Are you a baritone? Because I really want to get to first bass with you…” Richie felt his face heat up when he heard Eddie snort.

Eddie lifted his head and looked up at him. A tingly feeling shot up Richie’s spine as those honey colored orbs locked on him, looking through his physical being and into his soul.

He raised an eyebrow at him and said, “Is this gonna be a constant thing with you?”

“What? Me desperately trying to win your affections by using cheesy music pickup lines at every given moment…maybe…” Richie shrugged.

Eddie chuckled and stood up, dusting himself off. “You’re trying to win my affections?” Richie nodded.

“Well…you’re off to a good start…that was actually pretty good.”

“Oh? You thought that was good? Wait til you hear this one…” Eddie’s face changed from amusement to regret in a millisecond.

“Wait…no there’s only so much cringe I can handle in a full day—”

“Hey baby, is your leading tone C#? Because all I can see coming next is this D!”

Eddie visibly cringed and shook his head. “That was fucking horrible, Richie…please stick to your day job.”

“What if my day job was being funny?” Richie crossed his arms.

“Then you need to fucking quit.” Eddie said seriously.

Richie’s laughter reverberated throughout the hallway as he doubled over, gripping his sides. “Gorgeous and funny…where have you been all my life?”

“Shhh Richie! Shut the fuck up before you wake up everyone on this side of L.A!” Eddie hissed, smacking his arm.

Richie covered his mouth with his hand in a lame attempt to stifle his laughter. Eddie grabbed his arm and yanked him away from his door.

“Seriously Rich! You’re gonna fucking wake my mother up!” Butterflies filled Richie’s stomach at the nickname Eddie gave him.

His laughter quickly died down and he gave Eddie a sympathetic look. “Sorry…I’ll try to be quieter next time…no promises though.”

Eddie sent him a look that was icier than Antarctica. “Rich…I’m serious.”

“Fine…fine! I’ll be good I swear!” Richie said, holding his hands up defensively.

Eddie held up his pinky. “Pinky swear?”

“Pinky swear? What are we…eight years old?Richie said jokingly. 

Eddie still had that look on his face, his pinky finger waiting for Richie’s answer. Richie finally conceded, internally swooning like a schoolgirl as his calloused pinky wrapped around Eddie’s soft one.

He rolled his eyes and said, “I fucking pinky swear.”

Eddie bit down lightly on the end of his thumb. “To confirm you really mean it.”

“I’m not fucking biting myself…where…where in the hell did you learn this pinky swear from?”

Eddie’s lips pulled up in one corner in amusement. “I learned it from a friend at choir camp.”

“Choir camp? Oh Eds…yes please keep feeding my perfect, innocent image of you…” Richie fake moaned.

“Fuck you and don’t you start calling me Eds…I hate that.” Eddie snapped, a hint of mirth in his voice. 

The amused look never left Eddie’s face, so Richie made a mental note to definitely start calling him that.

“Why are you up so early anyways? It’s,” Eddie pulled his phone out and looked down at it, “2:45 in the morning…”

Richie’s stomach answered for him.

“What were you gonna get to eat at this ungodly hour?!” Eddie yelled.

He remembered that they we’re still in the hallway and slapped his hand over his mouth.

Richie tsked. “Do you need to pinky swear that you will behave, Eddie Spaghetti?”

Eddie wrinkled his nose in disgust. “Eddie…spaghetti?”

Richie nodded. “You gotta say it all together.”

Eddie smacked him again and said, “I’m not fucking saying anything…and neither are you, because I’m not having it!”

Eddie crossed his arms and popped his hip out in the way that made Richie melt.

“Cute cute cute!!” Richie squealed, pinching Eddie’s cheeks.

Eddie swatted his hands away and said, “Get the fuck off me! I’m a grown man! There’s nothing cute about me!”

“That’s where you’re wrong Eds…everything is cute about you and you’re a grown man? How old are you, twelve?” Richie teased. 

“I’m seventeen, asshole.” Eddie snapped.

Richie blinked in surprise. “Seventeen? Well shit…I thought you were older than that, you act very mature for your age.”

Eddie closed his eyes and stuck his nose in the air. “Yeah I know…more mature than you, fuckwit.” 

“Oooo! Name calling…yeah you’re no longer more mature than me, we’re literally on the same level now.” Richie chirped. 

Eddie rolled his eyes, clearly getting fed up with Richie’s shit. “You didn’t the answer question, dumbass…where are you going to get something to eat?”

“Gorgeous, funny and got a temper that’s as long as my attention span? You’re satisfying all my conditions, Eds…” Richie winked, turning to walk towards the elevator.

Richie heard the quick footsteps of Eddie close behind him. He thought it was just the cutest thing that Eddie’s legs had to work double time to keep up with his long strides.

Eddie sighed and said, “Rich…focus…please. Where are you going—”

“Taco Bell.” Richie said finally. 

Eddie stopped dead in his tracks. Richie stopped and turned around, placing his hands back in his pockets. “What?”

Eddie made a face. “Taco Bell? Ugh Rich! Do you know what kind of garbage is in their food?”

Richie shook his head. “No I don’t, and I don’t wanna know.”

“Fine…but I honestly feel that—” Eddie began to rant, but Richie cut him off. 

“Ugh Eddie…okay! I won’t go to fucking Taco Bell…there's a diner I saw not even five minutes away from here, I'll go there.” Richie started walking again.

He stopped at the elevator and pressed the down button. The elevator immediately opened, and Richie stepped inside.

Eddie was still standing in the same spot when he turned around. Richie smiled at the look of uncertainty on his face. 

Richie just couldn't believe how cute Eddie was. "Eds…you know you are more than welcome to come—"

“Okay!” Eddie said eagerly.

Richie laughed as he held the doors opened for Eddie, who was booking it towards him.

Eddie stepped inside the elevator with him and stared ahead. “Also Rich…don’t fucking call me that…” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *snorts* Daddy Mikey 😂 sorry I had to do it!
> 
> Richie is just a human notebook full of cheesy pick up lines and Eddie loves all of them 😆


	4. You Give Me Butterflies

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Two boys on a very cute date *squeals*  
> Even though they don't know it's a date.  
> Richie learns a little bit about Eddie's childhood. 
> 
> TW: Mentions of child abuse.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey all you cool Cats and Kittens! 😁 With this COVID-19 pandemic going on, I hope you all are being safe out there. Practicing your social distancing, sanitizing and washing your hands. Would've had this chapter out earlier, but I am an essential employee so yeah you know how that goes! Anyways on the story! ❤

“Holy shit…dude…is this a Toyota Tundra?!” Richie chuckled as Eddie circled his truck.

Eddie wore an expression that could easily be compared to how a child would react when a seeing a shiny, new toy.

“Yep, this is mine.” Richie said proudly.

Eddie continued to check the truck out in amazement. “What year is it?”

“2002…it was my mother’s.” Richie didn’t think Eddie’s eyes could’ve gotten any bigger, but he proved him wrong.

Eddie started spouting out questions before Richie could even think to formulate a response. “2002? Holy fuck…what kind of engine does it have? Does it have good gas mileage? Is it a manual or an automatic? Please say it’s manual!”

Richie mentally added “Truck junkie” to his ever-expanding list of things he absolutely adored about Eddie. “Oh, wow Spaghetti man, didn’t think you would have such a hard on for trucks…”

Eddie’s face turned beet red. “Shut up! I don’t have a hard on…it’s just…before my dad died, we would always work on his 1978 GMC Sierra Grande…it was so fucking cool. It was this gorgeous maroon color with a white stripe on the side and the inside…Rich, the inside was a smooth beige leather…and it was a manual.”

Eddie sighed fondly and looked down. “He was gonna teach me how to drive it and give it to me for my sixteenth birthday when it was all fixed up…all we needed to do was put new brakes on it and it would be complete…but then he got sick with…” Eddie trailed off.

Richie so desperately wanted to wipe the tear from Eddie’s face and pull him in for hug, but he ended up settling for a hand on his shoulder. “I’m so sorry, Eddie…”

Eddie quickly wiped his face and sniffled. “That was actually the first time I was able to really talk about my dad. I normally shut down and just…block everything and everyone out.”

Richie opened his truck door for Eddie and gestured for him to get inside. “Come on, Eddie…” Eddie smiled slightly and climbed in.

Richie shut his door and walked over to his side, opening the door and climbing in. Richie closed the door and turned to look at Eddie who stared blankly ahead.

“My mom sold the truck immediately after my dad died.” Eddie said glumly. 

“She what?” Richie asked incredulously, his eyes widening.

Eddie sighed and nodded. “Yeah she sold it. She caught me tinkering on it one day and nearly had a fucking brain aneurysm…she kept screaming that the hood was gonna fall on my head and crush it.” Eddie laughed bitterly.

“What the fuck dude…” Richie turned to stare at the steering wheel as Eddie continued.

“She wouldn’t even let me go get my drivers’ license…when I asked about it, she fucking flipped.”

Richie blinked in surprise as Eddie pulled off an impressive impersonation of his mother.

“Oh, Eddie bear!! Don’t you know how dangerous it is out on those roads! You could get hit by semi or spiral out of control and flip the car, you could fall asleep at the wheel and drive off a bridge, you could get pulled over by a fake cop and mugged…oh Eddie bear! WHY DO YOU ALWAYS MAKE ME THINK OF ALL THESE HORRIBLE THINGS THAT COULD HAPPEN TO YOU!!!!” Richie jerked back when Eddie screamed.

Richie noticed that Eddie tried to take in deep breaths but his breathing only came out in short, reedy gasps.

Richie’s eyes widen in horror as he watched the smaller man fight to get air into his lungs. “Eddie…Eds…you okay?” He reached out and Eddie threw his hand up to stop him.

He pawed at his front pockets until he pulled out a small, blue and white item. Richie quickly recognized it to be an inhaler.

He pushed it into his mouth and pressed down on it, a hiss filling the silence in the car. Eddie pressed down on it one more time, breathing in deep before removing the inhaler from his mouth, gasping.

“Sorry.” Eddie said weakly. He looked down embarrassed.

“Sorry for what? Trying to breathe…you have nothing to apologize for man.” Eddie looked at him, grinning gravely.

They were silent for a moment before Eddie spoke again. “Sooo…are we still going to the diner?”

Richie huffed a laugh and nodded. “Yeah Eddie Spaghetti…we’re still going.”

Richie cranked up his truck and Eddie smiled widely at the sound of the engine. “Like music to my ears.”

Richie giggled at that. “If you didn’t have hard on before, you definitely have one now.”

“Fuck off.” Eddie chuckled softly before relaxing into his seat and pulling his seatbelt on.

“Sorry, it’s just so cute seeing you get all excited.” Richie grinned at Eddie.

“How many times do I have to tell you that I am a grown man…there is nothing cute about me!” Eddie yelled.

They went back and forth like an old married couple all the way to the diner.

“Sometimes I just wanna put you in my pocket and walk around with you, that’s how cute you are.” Richie said openly.

“That’s fucking weird and mildly concerning Rich.” Eddie said, a playful smile tugging at his lips. Richie couldn't help but to laugh. 

🎶🎶🎶🎶🎶

“Ugh finally! I’m fucking starving!” Eddie groaned as they pulled into the parking lot. Richie tried his hardest to get out first so he could open Eddie's door, but Eddie had already climbed out. 

Richie walked hastily over to main entrance to hold the door open for Eddie and noticed a slight blush on his cheeks.

“Thank you.” Eddie smiled shyly and rushed inside. Richie got in front and led Eddie all the way to back of the diner to a booth and he sat down.

Eddie glared down the booth seat like it offended him. “What? What's wrong?” Richie asked.

“Well first…this seat looks like it hasn’t been cleaned in God knows how long and why did you choose a booth directly by the restroom? That’s so fucking unsanitary…” Eddie gagged, pulling his shirt over his nose.

Richie had to process what the fuck was going on before thinking, _He’s a germaphobe…huh…okay I can work with that._

Richie shrugged. “We can move if you—”

Eddie walked to the front of the diner before Richie could finish.

“O…kay.” Richie got up and followed him to another booth.

Eddie inspected it and shook his head. “This one looks dirty as well, but at least it fucking looks better than the other one…hold on.”

Eddie pulled a small container of hand sanitizer out of his pocket and began squeezing it on some napkins he grabbed, proceeding to wipe the seats and table down.

A waitress who looked like she was three seconds from quitting had finally made her way over to them and raised her eyebrow at what Eddie was doing.

Richie gave her an apologetic smile and mouthed, “Sorry.”

She just shrugged and walked away, calling over her shoulder, “Just let me know when you’re ready.”

“Okay Eddie…it’s clean enough…” Richie grabbed Eddie’s shoulder and guided him into the seat.

Eddie made a cute noise of protest when Richie grabbed the napkins out of his hands.

“Wait—” Eddie tried to grab the napkins out of his hands. 

Richie held them up out of his reach. “It’s clean Eddie. All the big bad germs are gone now.”

“Fuck you.” Eddie said, rolling his eyes.

 _Yes please!_ Richie quickly thought. 

He gave him a wide, toothy grin and said, “Awww Eds…you know you love it when I mess with you.” They both sat down. 

“No, I don’t love it, I barely even like it and stop calling me Eds…that’s not my name.” Eddie pouted. 

The waitress walked up to the table. “Is the table clean enough for you sir?” she said sarcastically.

Eddie glared up at her and opened his mouth to respond when Richie cut him off.

“Yes! He is very much pleased with how clean the table is now.” Richie shot Eddie a look of warning before smiling pleasantly at the waitress.

She looked back at him, nonchalantly and tapped the pen she holding against the ticket book twice. “Are you two ready to order?”

“Uhhh…no we haven’t had a chance to look over menu, could you give us ten minutes?” Richie gave her a look that said, "Pretty please!" 

She rolled her eyes. “I’ll give you five.”

The waitress walked away. Eddie looked over his shoulder to make sure she was far enough away before he turned around and whispered, “What a fucking bitch!!”

Richie shook his head and playfully scolded Eddie. “You gotta play nice Eddie Spaghetti, remember she could spit in your food.”

Eddie blanched at that. “Oh shit…you’re right.”

Richie laid his menu down in front of him and said, “I know I’m right, so put the claws away kitten…”

Eddie glared at him. “Whatever…I’m more like a lion more than anything else.”

Richie snorted. “Yep, a cute little lion with the cutest, little paws I—”

Eddie picked up the butter knife and pointed it at Richie. “I will fucking end you, Tozier.”

Richie cackled as he put his hands up to surrender. “Sorry…I’ll be good for the rest of the night.”

“I’ll give you fifteen seconds.” Eddie said, staring at him blankly. 

“Damn Eds, this is our first time hanging out with each other and you already know me so well…I’m flattered.” Richie put his hand over heart.

Eddie opened his mouth to respond to that, but the waitress had returned. “You two ready?” she asked, clearly annoyed.

Richied nodded. “Uhh yeah…could I get your classic beef burger medium well with extra pickles and fries for the side and for the drink…I’ll take a lemonade.”

The waitress quickly wrote that down and looked at Eddie. “You?”

Eddie placed his menu down on the table and said, “Do you have like a ‘healthier’ alternative here?”

The waitress stared blankly at him for a moment before reaching down and turning the menu over and pointing to a very small section of the menu.

Eddie looked down and grimaced. “A grilled chicken sandwich and broccoli? That’s it?”

“I don’t make the menus sir; I just take the orders.” the waitress replied dryly. 

That seemed to irritate Eddie more. “I know you don’t— you know what…I’ll have that. Thank you.”

“You’re gonna eat that dry sir?” The waitress asked curtly.

“No…I’ll take a water.” Eddie replied just as sharply.

The waitress scowled at him and walked away. “Eddie…” Richie said, a hint of disapproval in his voice.

“Did you not see how she was acting towards me? I just gave her what she was giving me! Can’t blame me for that!” Eddie exclaimed. 

_God, he is just too cute!_ Richie thought as Eddie pouted. He smiled and nodded in agreement.

“You’re right, you’re absolutely right…I can’t blame you for that…but I still will, only because I know it pisses you off.” Richie laughed as Eddie flipped him off.

“You know Eds, you keep saying fuck you to me, I might have to start suspecting something…” Richie put his elbows on the table and slotted his fingers together, resting his chin on it.

“S-Suspecting something? Like what?” Richie noticed the tips of Eddie’s ears turning red.

“I don’t know…you tell me.” Richie said, shrugging. He winked and Eddie’s face flushed redder than the tabletop.

“I d-d-don’t have anything to tell you because there’s nothing to suspect.” Eddie sputtered. 

Richie squinted at him. “Suuure there isn’t Kaspbrak…”

“There isn’t Tozier…” Eddie said trying to sound serious. 

“Your mouth is saying one thing, but that blush on your face is telling me something else.” Richie said confidently. 

Eddie covered up his face with his hands and mumbled out a muffled “Shut up…” A satisfied grin etched itself on Richie’s face and he sat back in his seat.

The waitress brought them their drinks and then shortly after their food.

“This is just fucking sad.” Eddie said, as he poked the broccoli that clearly was overcooked.

Richie pushed his place over to him and said, “You want some of mine?”

“No…my arteries are clogging up just from looking at that thing.” Eddie wrinkled his nose in disgust as Richie bit into his burger.

Richie marked Eddie wrinkling his nose up as his second favorite facial expression, the first obviously being when Eddie smiles.

“Your loss.” Richie said with a mouth full of food.

“Ugh Rich! Were you raised in a barn or something? Don’t talk with your mouth full!” Eddie said almost gagging. 

Richie swallowed and said, “I’m sorry…it’s just sooo good! Oh my God…” Richie made a show of rolling his eyes in the back of his head and “mmm mmm mmming” after every bite.

Eddie looked down at the sad excuse of a meal he had and frowned.

He sighed and said, “Well I guess one fry couldn’t hurt…may I?”

Richie gestured to his plate of food. “You may.”

Eddie reached out and grabbed a fry. He looked at it for a bit, studying it.

“Are you gonna eat the fucking fry or start writing a thesis on it?” Richie deadpanned. 

Eddie frowned and said, “Shut the fuck up, I’m gonna eat it…just give me a minute.”

Richie shook his head and took another bite out of his burger. Eddie finally brought the fry up to his mouth and took a small bite out of it.

Richie’s jaw dropped at the sound Eddie made when he ate the whole fry. That familiar tingly feeling rushed from his head to his toes as he watched Eddie eat.

“I can’t believe I have been missing out on this! Oh my God!!” Eddie moaned, stealing more fries off Richie’s plate.

“Why—”, Richie’s voice cracked, and he cleared his throat, “Why were you missing out?” Eddie stuffed more fries in his mouth and rolled his eyes.

“Let me guess…‘mommie dearest’?” Eddie looked at him confused by the name, but then eventually nodded. He swallowed and sipped some water.

“She wouldn’t let me eat junk food when I was younger, she always fed me the healthy shit while she fucking gorged herself on anything and everything that was unhealthy. She would sit there and stuff her face full of ham and macaroni and cheese a-and every fucking dessert known to man and all I had sitting in front of me was this," Eddie gestured down to his plate.

He began to poke at the chicken with his fork as he continued. “The first three times when I didn’t eat this, she sent me to my room and locked me in it, screaming about how I was ungrateful and how she was gonna let me starve…after the fourth time, I finally just shut up and ate it…I really fucking hated her for that.” Eddie stared blankly at the plate of fries.

The corners of Richie's mouth turned downward. “Eddie…”

Richie put his hand on Eddie’s hand. “You can have anything you want to eat when you’re with me, hell it doesn’t even have to stop at food…whatever you want, you can have it. Just ask me and you shall receive.”

Eddie smiled and looked down at Richie’s hand on his. “Richie…that’s really sweet, but you don’t have to do that.”

“I know I don’t _have_ to Eddie…I want to.” Richie said sincerely. 

Richie’s heart sped up as Eddie turned his hand up and laced their fingers together. He felt a blush slowly creeping across his face as he stared into those pools of honey that were Eddie’s eyes.

The waitress cleared her throat rudely, ruining their moment. It was Richie’s turn to glare at her now. “What?”

“Here’s your check…” she slapped it down on the table and walked away.

“She's definitely not getting tip.” Richie said as he pulled out his wallet.

“Rich, no you don’t have to pay for my food…I didn’t even eat it...” Richie laughed as Eddie yelled, “It should be fucking free!!”

Richie shrugged. “It’s fine Eds, what did I just say?”

“But I didn’t ask though…” Eddie argued.

“Consider this a freebie.” Richie said, winking.

Richie got up to go pay for their food and walked back over to the booth. “After you, Sir Spaghetti.”

Eddie rolled his eyes as he stood up. “Alright…I already know the first thing I’m going to ask of you.”

“Not on your life, Eds.” Richie said, shaking his head. 

“You don’t even know what I was about to ask!” Eddie yelled. 

“You were gonna ask me to stop calling you the nicknames I came up for you and that’s not gonna happen.” Richie said, matter of factly. 

Eddie gaped at him. “Well that’s not fucking fair! How the hell—”

“Life isn’t fair, my lovely spaghetti head.” Richie beamed, hearing Eddie groan as he opened the door for him.

🎶🎶🎶🎶🎶

Once they were in the car, Eddie turned to Richie and said, “I feel like you know my whole life’s story and the only thing I know about you is that you’re annoying.”

Richie scoffed dramatically and put his hand over his chest. “Ouch Eds…that really hurt.”

Eddie rolled his eyes and said, “Yeah I’m sure I pierced through all that thick skin with that little jab, but seriously…you know more about me than I do about you and I wanna change that.”

Richie shrugged and said, “Well what do you want to know?”

Eddie looked off to the side for a moment, thinking about a question. “How old were you when you started singing and do you play an instrument?”

“Yowzah Eds! Hitting me with two questions at once…ummm well I was five when I started singing. My mom and I would always sing to each other around the house…and yes, I do play an instrument. I play the guitar.”

Richie noticed something flash quickly in Eddie’s eyes.

“Guitar huh?” Eddie’s voice sound huskier than before. He cleared his throat and said, “That’s cool.”

“Well what about you?” Richie asked, turning to lean against his seat. 

Eddie laughed nervously and ran his fingers through his hair. “I was four. I grew up in the church and I was in the children’s choir. I used to love standing up there in the choir stand, singing out my praises until one day my choir director noticed my voice was a lot stronger than the other kids, so he would always volunteer me to sing lead all the time…it got pretty tiring.”

“Yeah…that sounds like it would’ve gotten boring fast.” Richie agreed.

Eddie sighed. “It did…I don’t play an instrument though…I wanted to learn how to play the piano, but of course my mom wouldn’t allow it.”

Richie laughed. “What? She thought the fallboard would come crashing down on your fingers and break them off?”

Richie stopped laughing when he saw the serious look on Eddie’s face. “Are you fucking serious?” Eddie nodded.

Richie turned to face the front and sighed heavily. “Oh wow…I thought I heard it all, but your mother keeps on surprising me.”

Richie cranked up his truck and headed back to the hotel. They continued questioning each other.

Richie finally found out the answers to his questions. Eddie was a contra tenor and he mainly sung Christian Rock.

Richie couldn't believe what he was hearing. “So, you don’t listen to any other genre of music?”

“Ehhh…well I listen to classical music sometimes…” Eddie responded, picking a piece of string on the edge his shirt. 

Richie huffed a laugh. “Okay…what about regular rock or punk rock?” 

Eddie winced. “My mom says that’s the devil’s music…”

Richie glanced over at Eddie and said, “Well Eds…get ready to commit the ultimate sin…”

Richie pulled out his phone and pulled up Spotify.

“Here.” He handed Eddie his phone. “Pick a playlist, any playlist…I have like fifty of them.”

Eddie hesitated before scrolling through Richie’s playlists. “What the fuck…‘Songs Richie Randomly Belts Out’?”

“Oooo yeah!! Pick that one!” Richie bounced excitedly in his seat.

Eddie hit ‘shuffle play’ and "Love Me" by The 1975 started playing.

Richie cringed a little and said, “Not the first song I would’ve picked to introduce you, but it’s still a good one!”

Richie started tapping his hands on the steering wheel and moving his head in time with the guitar riff. He swerved a couple of times trying to play up for performance for Eddie.

Eddie laughed and said, “Hey Rich…I would like to make it back to the hotel in one piece.”

Richie ruffled his hair and Eddie playfully swatted his hand away. The song ended when they pulled into the hotel parking lot.

Richie parked and looked at Eddie. “Sooo what’s the verdict?”

Eddie rubbed his chin, deep in thought. “I don’t know…I may need to listen to another one.”

“Your wish is my command…let me see…” Richie grabbed for his phone and Eddie gave it to him.

Richie scrolled through his list songs until he found the perfect one. “Listen to this…”

The guitar riff for "Smells Like Teen Spirit" by Nirvana started playing.

Richie watched Eddie’s face intently trying to gauge his reaction to the song. He noticed that Eddie’s head bobbed to the beat a couple times before he caught himself doing it. The song ended and Richie waited patiently.

“What’s the name of that app?” Eddie asked pulling out his phone.

Richie smiled widely and did a fist pump. “Spotify.”

Eddie quickly downloaded the app and made an account. Richie told him every song on his playlist and then some on the walk back to their rooms.

They stopped at Eddie’s door and an awkward silence fell over them. “Uhhh thanks again for tonight…I had fun.” Eddie whispered.

“Same here, Eds…” Richie whispered back.

 _Fuck…I want to kiss you so bad right now!!_ Richie thought as Eddie bit his lip and looked around nervously.

Eddie shrugged slightly. “So, see you in a few hours? The executive producers are supposed to be coming here and we’ll find out who’s gonna go first for ‘The Blinds’…”

“Oh okay! Cool…when do you think we'll meet the coaches?” Richie asked, twirling his keys on his pointer finger.

Eddie shrugged. "I don't know. I don't even think they'll tell us who the coaches are until that day we have to perform." 

Richie nodded. "I guess that makes sense." They fell silent again, this time staring dotingly at each other.

Richie almost leaned down to kiss Eddie when he saw his eyes linger on his lips longer than they should have, but Eddie pulled back and laughed timidly, cheeks flushing pink.

“I...uh...better go before my mom wakes up.” He inserted his room key into the door and opened it, stepping inside.

He turned around and smiled tenderly at Richie. “Oh yeah...I've been meaning to tell you this all night, but you should wear glasses more often...you look," Eddie's blush deepened as he looked down, "very attractive with them on." Richie's eyes widened, his face turning a scarlet red.

 _Eddie fucking Kaspbrak just said I was very attractive...fucking score!!_ Richie thought, squealing like a little schoolgirl on the inside. 

"Well...goodnight Rich…” Eddie waved bashfully before closing the door. A longing grin worked it's way across Richie's face and he waved back.

“Goodnight Eds…” He blew a kiss towards the closed door. 


	5. Take My Breath Away

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Richie meets the other contestants, and instantly clicks with a redheaded siren and her total babe of a boyfriend.  
> Also, more cute interactions between him and Eddie!

Richie groaned and slowly forced himself to get up as he heard a soft knock at the door. Richie rubbed a hand down his face as a woman’s voice called through the door.

"Mr. Tozier," she knocked again, “Mr. Tozier, I’m here to escort you and the rest of the contestants to the conference room for the meeting today.”

“Uhhh okay…just give me a few minutes.” Richie said through a yawn.

He got up, stretching to his full length and letting out a shameless moan. Scratching his stomach, he lumbered over to the bathroom and hopped in the shower, grabbing his toothbrush in the process to brush his teeth.

Richie sighed as the hot water soothed the stiff muscles in his shoulders and back. He scratched at his scalp as he washed his hair, relaxing further as he rinsed the shampoo out, letting the water wash over his face.

He sighed heavily, suddenly remembering that he had the PA waiting on him outside. He got out and hastily dried his body and hair off and rushed to his bag to pull out an outfit for the day.

Once he was fully dressed, he ran his fingers through his hair trying to style it. He eventually gave up and walked back into the bathroom to put in his contacts.

_You should wear glasses more often...you look very attractive with them on..._

Eddie’s sweet, melodic voice echoed out in his mind. He put the contact lens back in its case and went to go look for his glasses. They were tossed haphazardly on the bedside table.

“I’ll wear these for you, my sweet spaghetti head.” Richie cooed, picking them up and putting them on.

🎶🎶🎶🎶🎶

“Sorry for making you all wait, I had to…” Richie trailed off, seeing a small group of people standing outside his door. “Well fuck...I don’t remember acquiring groupies…”

A very attractive woman with fiery red hair pulled back into one long braid and porcelain skin scoffed and rolled her teal-green eyes.

“You fucking wish…” she said flippantly. 

Richie caught the smirk on her face and smirked back. “No dollface… _you_ fucking wish you could have,” Richie gestured to himself, “all of this.”

She busted out laughing and said, “That might’ve been true if I didn’t already have a dick I was bouncing on…”

“Bev…” The man besides her hissed her name, blushing furiously.

“Whoa! You’re bouncing on Hercules’s dick? Where do I sign up?” The absolute knockout with kind, brown eyes blushed deeper and laughed nervously.

“S-sorry…I’m not—” The man stuttered. 

“I’m just fucking with you, Atlas…the name’s Richie, what’s yours?” Richie said, causally shoving his hands in his pockets.

The red headed beauty stepped in between them and lifted her petite hand up, pulling off an excellent British accent. “Beverly Marsh.”

Richie switched into a British accent as well. “How delightful to meet you, Miss Marsh.” He grabbed her hand and brought it up to his mouth, kissing it. 

Beverly playfully fluttered her eyelashes and said, “Charmed, I’m sure.” They both giggled out loud and Richie let go of her delicate hand.

Beverly pulled the still blushing man closer to her and smiled brightly. “And this beautiful creature is Ben. Ben Hanscom.”

Ben smiled nervously and rubbed the back of his neck. “I wouldn’t say beautiful—”

Richie put his hand up to stop Ben. “Dude…I will not stand here and allow you to self-deprecate. You’re fucking hot, got it and no Ben slander will be tolerated.”

Beverly smiled and nodded. “Yeah what he said.”

“Alright everyone attention on me please!” The PA yelled. Everyone turned to face her, and Richie saw Eddie and his mom standing right beside her.

Richie’s stomach was doing somersaults as his eyes raked over Eddie’s outfit. He wore a short-sleeved pink button-down shirt with beige cargos shorts and white vans.

His hair looked like he had been fussing with it all morning, styled in soft waves. Richie’s was just itching to run his hands through it.

Richie leaned over and whispered, “Alright I’d love to keep this ménage à trois going, but I see a fun sized firecracker I have to go fuck with…I bid you two adieu.”

Beverly giggled as Richie curtsied and said, “See you later, Lankenstein.”

Richie made a face while standing up straight. “Lankenstein?”

“It’ll grow on you…” Beverly winked. Richie opened his mouth to argue, but then decided against it and shrugged. He threw a two finger salute their way and walked away.

“Okay people let’s start heading that way. Follow me.” The PA announced.

Everyone started following her down the long hallway. Richie weaved his way through the small crowd of people to get to Eddie’s side.

Thankfully Eddie's mom was in front of them, talk— arguing with the PA.

“Do you need to borrow my tuner? Because you’re looking pretty sharp today.” Richie whispered in Eddie’s ear.

Eddie jumped and turned to look up at him. “Christ! You scared me, Rich!”

Richie smiled jovially and said, “How are you doing today, Eds?”

Eddie rolled his eyes, losing the fight against the smile that broke across his face. “That’s not my name…and I’m doing fine. How are you?”

“So much better now that I have been graced by your presence.” Richie said fondly.

Eddie narrowed his eyes skeptically, smile never leaving his face. “Oh really now?”

“Fuck yeah and might I just say that…pink is definitely your color…”

“This isn’t pink asshole, it’s Salmon.” Eddie argued.

Richie huffed a laugh and said, “Salmon? Dude that’s fucking pink…”

“Wrong. It’s a shade of pink. Broaden your knowledge on fucking colors, you uncultured swine.” Eddie smirked at him.

A dopey grin began to spread across Richie's face. “You never cease to blow my mind, Eddie Spaghetti.”

“The same can be said about you too, Rich…” Eddie said softly.

Richie gave Eddie the side eye, impersonating Arnold Jackson from Diff’rent Strokes. "Whatcha talkin’ bout Eds?”

Eddie laughed out loud in surprise, quickly covering up his mouth as his mother threw a glare his way.

He kept giggling and said, “Thanks for finally revealing how old you are, you ancient nerd and I’m talking about how good you look with your glasses on. Didn’t think you would be able to blow my mind for the second time but consider me fucking wrong.”

Richie blushed shamelessly. 

🎶🎶🎶🎶🎶

They finally made it to the conference room and filed inside. “Good morning everyone, I hope you all got a good night’s sleep.” One the executive producers said, smiling politely.

As Richie went to sit down next to Eddie, his mom sneered at him. Richie could practically hear her thoughts as she stared him down. _I won’t let a dirty boy like you corrupt my Eddie bear, not while I’m still breathing!_

 _I can wait another two years_ Richie thought, sneering right back at her.

What Richie was thinking must've been conveyed on his face because she pressed her lips into a thin line of disapproval and turned to face the producer.

The producer smiled brightly and said, “I want to start by saying congratulations guys, you’ve made it to ‘The Blinds’, clap it up!!!!”

Everybody in the room started cheering and clapping.

“All of us are so excited to see how far you all go on your journey! Now, we’re gonna go around the room and you all are gonna introduce yourselves,” scattered groans echoed throughout the room, “ugh! I know, I know! Just like being back in grade school, am I right? So you all are gonna tell us a little bit about yourself. Also tell us if you’re solo or in a group.”

The producer clapped his hands. “Alright…so we’re gonna start on this side of the room.”

He gestured to his left. Richie used his hand to stifle his laugh as he watched Beverly mentally cuss at the producer as she stood up. 

“Well…uh…my name is Beverly Marsh and I am in a group with my boyfriend, Ben Hanscom…ummm the name of our group is called ‘Hymn & Her’ and—” she glared over in Richie’s direction when he snickered.

“Anyway, we have been a group for three years now and we play at our local bars and clubs. Ummm…yeah that’s pretty much it.” she quickly sat down.

The producer beamed. “Awesome okay next.”

Ben was next to stand up and introduce himself. Another cute pink blush blossoming across his flawless face.

They all went around the room, standing and saying their names, telling everyone a little bit about themselves.

Richie was surprisingly interested in what the other contestants had to say. Beverly and Ben weren't the only ones there who were in a band.

There were three more actually, each of them with only two people in them. When one the girls stood up to talk, her partner kept mumbling shady comments.

"Is there something you want to say Savannah?" The girl said sharply. 

Her partner (Savannah) laughed and shrugged. "Nah...I have nothing to say..." the girl turned and tried to continue to talk, but Savannah interrupted her.

"I just think it's fucking funny Melanie, that you're just gonna stand there and lie about how you started this band, when in fact...I was the one who started it! You said that this was a stupid idea in the beginning!"

Everyone in the room fell silent.

"Ohhh shit...super fucking glad I got out of bed this morning..." Richie whispered to Eddie under his breath.

"Shut up Richie!" Eddie giggled and gently hit his shoulder.

"I have nothing else to say." Melanie sat down, her face red from embarrassment. 

The next person to stand up was a girl named Claudia who had told a story of how she was messing around one day and had sung the highest note ever (which was a G10) and was never able to sing it again.

“It was so weird guys, I legit was like a human tea kettle for like ten seconds.” she said, giggling. 

Everyone in the room laughed. The next person after her to stand was a guy named Bill Denbrough, he had a stutter. He nearly had everyone in tears as he told the story of how he got into singing because of his little brother.

“I m-made a promise to G...G... my little brother to win this for him and that's a promise I plan to k-keep.” Bill said earnestly. 

Scattered handclaps and sniffles echoed through out the room. “That was beautiful Bill…” The producer wiped his eyes. “Who’s next?”

Richie cleared his throat and stood up, pushing his glasses up on his face.

“I honestly don’t know how I’m supposed to follow up after that…you nearly dehydrated me man, had me crying like the Niagara Falls.” Bill chuckled as Richie patted him on the shoulder.

“Well my name is Richie Tozier and I have been singing since I was five. I uhh…I play the guitar; I didn’t bring it with me because I don’t know I’m a piece of forgetful trash. And uhhh that's all I'm willing to share." 

Everyone laughed and clapped lightly as Richie sat down. The producer nodded and said, “Okay and last but certainly not least…” He gestured to Eddie.

Eddie stood and waved shyly. “Hey. My name is Edward Kaspbrak and I have been singing ever since I was four and—”

“Tell them who you get your voice from Eddie bear…” Eddie’s mom whispered.

Eddie let out a frustrated sigh and said, “I got my singing voice from my mother. I was in the children’s choir when I was younger—”

“Eddie bear, tell them how I had to fight tooth and nail just to get you in that children’s choir.” Eddie’s mom whispered again.

Eddie just stood there with his eyes closed. The producer looked between him and his mother. “Mr. Kaspbrak? Is everything alright—”

“I’m done.” Eddie sat down abruptly.

Eddie's mom looked at him, surprised. “Eddie bear you didn’t—”

“They don’t need to know that Ma!” Eddie hissed. Eddie's mom eyes widen as she looked at him like he had gone mad.

“Excuse me? They don’t need to know—” Eddie facepalmed as she struggled to stand up. She finally managed to push herself up. 

“Hello everyone, my name is Sonia Kaspbrak and I am Eddie’s mom and I am pretty much the main reason why Eddie decided to join 'The Voice'. I have worked so hard to get him here and trust me when I say, we are more than happy to be here amongst you all. Thank you.”

She smiled a sickeningly sweet smile and sat down. Eddie groaned and put his head down on the table.

“Eddie bear! Lift your head up, you don’t know what kind of diseases could be on it!” Sonia growled at him. 

Eddie lifted his head a quarter of an inch off the table and held it there. Richie almost laid a hand on his back, but smartly thought better of it.

The producer cleared his throat and began talking. “Okay! Now that we’re all acquainted…now to discuss this week’s show.”

The producer talked in elaborate detail about how everything was gonna go.

“There will be singing workshops, voice lessons, wardrobe, staging and more. There will be a handful of you who will sit down with our camera crew and do an interview. We meet here every other evening around 4:30PM to let you all know who will be performing the day. Do we have any minors in here?”

Eddie, Claudia and three other people raised their hands. The producer nodded and smiled.

“Awesome well, since you two will be missing half your school year, the majority of it if you make it pass blinds, we will be offering classes here so you can still get credit.”

Sonia raised her hand. “Well how will know what classes he will need? Also, my Eddie bear is a very smart boy, how am I supposed to know that the teacher is competent enough to teach him?”

The producer smiled politely and said, “Trust me…she’s competent enough.”

“Well how am I supposed to know that? I think I should sit in on the classes and make sure…” Sonia said, raising her voice. 

Eddie raised his head and shook it wildly, eyes going wide. The producer noticed and cleared his throat. 

“Well Mrs. Kaspbrak if you do that, you’re gonna miss out on the special activities we have planned for the parents.”

That piqued Sonia's interest. “Special activities for the parents? Like what?”

The producer handed her a brochure that had a woman wrapped in a towel and clay on her face with cucumbers covering her eyes.

“Everyday parents will have a spa day or specific activity to do while their kids are in school or at the singing workshops.” the producer explained. 

Sonia rubbed her chin as she contemplated her options. “Spa day huh? Well…I’m sorry Eddie bear. Mommy’s not gonna be able to sit with you in your classes, you’ll be alright, won’t you?”

“Most definitely ma…” Eddie gave the producer a grateful look and the producer smiled.

"Oh I almost forgot," the producer snapped his fingers, "you all won’t be able to leave the hotel the whole time you're in the competition, so take advantage of the pool, game room and other fun things we have here to offer.”

Richie didn’t like the sound of that. He shook his head and thought, _Fuck…stuck in this damn hotel until I'm eliminated …absolutely fucking not—_

“Well I guess we’re stuck in this hotel together.” Eddie whispered to him, feigning annoyance.

 _You know what,_ Richie thought looking into those huge, smoldering amber colored eyes, _Maybe being stuck in this hotel might not be a bad thing after all…_

He smiled and said, “I know right? What a fucking nightmare.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Uh oh! Richie and Eddie stuck in a hotel with each other for a whole month? Who knows what could happen...I think we all know what's gonna happen 😏😏


	6. Eskimo Kisses

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *Pokes head out from the hole I've been living in for the past few days*
> 
> Here's another chapter....
> 
> *Retreats back into the hole*

Have you ever had that feeling of when you’re watching a really good horror movie and out of nowhere everything goes silent, the character on the screen is just wandering aimlessly around while the killer gets closer and closer to her and you wanna grab her and yell, “You dumb bitch! There’s a fucking killer behind you! Turn around!” It suddenly dawns on you that you can’t because, fucking duh she's in a movie, so you have to sit there and watch her be stalked until the killer finally jumps out and stabs her to death? Yeah?

Well…that’s exactly how Richie was feeling as the producer called out the names of people were gonna be performing tomorrow night.

“Claudia Jackman…The Black Clovers…S&M…” The producer’s voice began to muffle as Richie internally panicked.

 _Oh God! I don’t know if I’m ready for this! I know I should be ready, but I’m not…I’m really fucking not!_ Richie thought, screaming in his head.

Richie looked around the room and saw a mixture of confidence and nervousness on everyone's face. 

🎶🎶🎶🎶🎶

Richie snapped his head to face the producer when he clapped his hands.

“Alright! If I called your name, then we will meet at Universal Studios at 6:00AM sharp! We have a lot of filming to do, so be sure to get plenty of rest, as we will be there all day, understand?” A few heads nodded.

The producer grinned and said, “Awesome! For the rest of you…you will be participating in singing workshops as mentioned before. Workshops start 2:00PM, that gives our contestants who are minors time to get done with their classes, alright! Again good luck on your journey and we are so excited to have you all here! See you at the next meeting.”

Everyone stood once the producer dismissed them.

“I need to ask the producer more questions, go on and head to the room Eddie bear.” Sonia said, lifting her arm up so Eddie could help her up. Eddie struggled for a bit, but finally pulled her up.

“Okay ma…” Eddie looked relieved he was going to have a few minutes to himself.

“Hello sir…I have more questions I need to ask you.” Sonia said, walking over to the producer.

Eddie rushed out the room and Richie wasn’t too far behind.

“Sooo…I was kind of having a mini nervous breakdown in there…did he call my name?” Richie asked Eddie once they were out in the hallway.

Eddie shook his head and said, "Really Richie? No he didn’t call your name. He didn’t call mine either, which fucking sucks because I’m so ready to perform Rich, I’m practically shaking with anticipation."

Richie laughed lightly and said, “Mind sharing some of that energy with me, Eds?”

Eddie looked at him confused. “What do you mean?” Richie looked down and sighed, shrugging slightly.

“I don’t know…I guess I'm kind of nervous? I was really psyching myself out in there, telling myself I wasn't ready, but the more I think about it I know that I am...it's just...I guess I’m just realizing how _real_ this is, like I’m really gonna be on TV, finally getting to show the world my talent and how much I love music,” Richie sniffled and took his glasses off. “I can finally say I’m doing something that I know would make my mom proud.”

Before Richie could stop it, a tear slowly made its way down his face.

Eddie had stopped walking and reached up to wipe the tear away with his thumb. Richie felt his face heat up as Eddie’s hand lingered on his cheek.

"Rich...what happened to your mom--" Before Eddie could continue with his question he was interrupted by Beverly threading her arm around Richie’s, grinning.

“Hello there, Lankenstein.”

Richie groaned and put his glasses back on, rolling his eyes. “Still hasn’t grown on me, Red.”

Beverly giggled and kissed his cheek. “Just give it time.”

“Uhhh…did I miss something?” Eddie asked, awkwardly. Richie internally giggled at the annoyed look Eddie had on his face.

Beverly turned to look at him and gasped. “Oh my goodness…aren’t you just the cutest thing?” she reached out and pinched Eddie’s cheeks. Richie laughed as Eddie scowled at Beverly smushing up his face.

“Bev…babe, you can’t just go around pinching people’s cheeks.” Ben’s smooth voice suddenly appeared behind her and Richie.

Beverly smiled brightly as she gushed over Eddie. “But Ben look at how adorable he is! He’s got eyes like Bambi, those precious freckles, his cute button nose!” Eddie turned as red as a tomato when Beverly rubbed her nose against his.

“Hey hey hey,” Richie yelled, stepping in between her and Eddie, “I’m the only one who can give Eds here Eskimo kisses!”

Eddie blushed deeper and smacked him on the chest. “First off, I keep telling you that’s not my name and secondly, what are you even talking about? You haven’t even made the attempt to give me Eskimo kisses…”

Richie smirked and leaned into Eddie’s space. “You want me to?”

Eddie turned away, his blush creeping down to his neck. “Fuck off.”

Richie’s smirk turned into full blown smile. “I didn’t hear you say no.” he whispered in his ear. Richie gripped Eddie’s chin and moved his head so that he was facing him.

He leaned down more and gently touched his nose to Eddie’s. He heard Beverly squeak out an “Oh my God,” followed by something else he couldn't quite hear over the sound of his heartbeat pounding in his ears.

When he pulled back to look at Eddie, he could’ve melted into the floor right there. Eddie had closed his eyes, his face still flushed red, a dopey grin spreading across his face.

When he had opened his eyes, he looked completely blissed out.

“You okay there, Eds?” Richie asked, an amused smile tugging at the corners of his lips.

Eddie nodded and replied dreamily, “Yeah…”

Ben and Beverly giggled when Eddie shook his head, trying to pull himself together. He cleared his throat when his voice cracked. “Yeah…yeah I’m good…don’t do that again!” he said trying to sound angry, but clearly failing.

Richie laughed and nodded. “Okay, I won’t do that again.”

Eddie narrowed his eyes and held his pinky. “Swear on it?”

Richie looked back at Beverly and said, “See what I gotta put up with?”

“He’s a precious cinnamon roll, so it’s worth it” Beverly said, smiling.

Richie nodded in agreement. “Oh yeah totally worth it!”

They did the pinky swear and Eddie bit his thumb, looking at Richie expectantly. Richie sighed loudly and gently bit his thumb. “There I did it, fucking happy now?”

Eddie flashed him a bright smile. “Very.”

Beverly wrapped her arms around both of them. “So you two should totally come back to our room…”

Richie put his hands up. “Whoa Miss Marsh, I was fine with it when it was just you, me and HILF planning to do the devil's three way, but now you wanna involve my sweet, innocent Eds…I won’t stand for it!”

Beverly snorted and lightly smacked Richie, making his glasses go askew slightly. “I wasn’t talking about that— wait what’s HILF mean?”

“Hottie I’d Like to Fuck…” Richie said seriously, fixing his glasses on his face.

Eddie and Beverly yelled at the same time. “Richie!!”

Richie cackled as Eddie and Beverly smacked him on each arm. "What? I’m just speaking my truth!"

Eddie rolled his eyes and said, “Beep fucking beep, asshole.”

“Did you just beep me, Eddie Spaghetti?” Richie said, pretending to be hurt.

“Yes! You needed to be stopped! Poor Ben looks like he’s gonna faint over there.” Eddie pointed to Ben, who’s hands were covering up his red face.

“Sorry Ben…sometimes when my mouth gets going, it doesn’t know when to stop…bum da tss!” Richie imitated playing an imaginary drumset.

Eddie and Beverly groaned in unison. “You see what _I_ have to put up with?” Eddie said, facepalming.

Richie gasped dramatically. “How dare you use my own words against me?”

“Well he’s cute, so I guess it’s worth it?” Beverly shrugged.

“Just cute? Why can’t I be a precious cinnamon roll like Eddie?” Richie pouted.

Beverly giggled and ruffled up his already wild hair and said, “You’re too tall to be a cinnamon roll, you’re more like an éclair…”

A mischievous look flashed across Richie’s face, "Yeah! Because I'm long and full of crea--"

Before he could finish his joke, Eddie slapped his hand across his mouth. “Don’t you dare, Rich…”

Richie pulled Eddie’s hand away from his mouth. “What? I wasn’t gonna say anything!” Richie argued.

“I saw the look in your eyes…” Eddie retorted.

“You spend a lot your time looking in my eyes, Eds?” Richie said, smiling. Eddie just shook his head and looked away.

“Back to the topic at hand…are you two coming or not?” Beverly asked eagerly.

“I’m down…what about you Eds?” Richie shoulder bumped Eddie.

Eddie looked down and rubbed the back of his head. “I don’t know…my mom—”

“Eddie bear!! What are you doing?! I specifically told you to go to the room!!” Sonia shrieked.

Beverly and Ben jumped while Richie and Eddie rolled their eyes. 

“Speak of the devil.” Richie grumbled. Eddie sighed and said, “Ma, I was talking—”

“Talking to these dirty people who look like they’ve committed every sin known to man!” Sonia yelled, grabbing Eddie’s arm.

“Only on Sundays Mrs. K…” Richie said sarcastically, smirking at her. She scoffed and rolled her eyes, yanking Eddie away from them.

“Tomorrow night! Eddie whispered before being pulled out of earshot.

Richie and Beverly both gave him a thumbs up, watching him disappear down the hall with his still ranting mother.

“Fucking yikes.” Beverly said, crossing her arms.

Richie leaned against the wall and laughed. “Ha! You sound just like my friend Stan when he first encountered her.”

“Well we gotta get back to our room, see you tomorrow?” Beverly said, grabbing Ben’s hand.

“Yeah see you two tomorrow.” Richie waved as they both began walking down the hall.

🎶🎶🎶🎶🎶

“Speaking of Stan…” Richie pulled out his phone as he began walking to his room and called Stan on FaceTime.

“Heyyy lover…” Richie sung as Stan answered the call.

Stan rolled his eyes and smiled. “I’m not your lover. How is everything going— wait are you wearing your glasses?”

Richie nodded and pushed them up on his face. “Yeah uhhh…just needed a little bit more motivation I guess…” Richie chuckled nervously.

Stan stared blankly at Richie. "That cutie with the Bambi eyes said he liked them, didn’t he?”

Richie blushed slightly and said, “That cutie has a name. It’s Eddie and so what if he told me he liked them? Is that against the law Staniel?”

Stan smiled and shook his head. “Not at all. I’m just happy someone got you being true to yourself.”

“Yeah yeah yeah…” Richie rolled his eyes, smling. He made it to his room and inserted his key card, stepping inside. 

“Sooo…tell me, have you made your move on him yet?” Stan said, teasing him.

Richie looked at Stan incredulously. “Stan! What kind of man do you take me for?”

Stan still had that teasing smile on his face. “So you haven’t?”

Richie ran his fingers through his hair and sighed. “No, I haven’t…well I mean the most we did was an Eskimo kiss, but that was innocent…I swear.”

Mike suddenly poked his head in and waved. “Hi Richie! How’s it’s going?”

Richie smiled and said, “It’s going good. I’m doing a singing workshop tomorrow.”

“When do you find out if you’re going to be preforming?” Mike asked, putting his arm around Stan’s shoulders.

Richie sighed as he sat down at the dilapidated desk and propped his elbow on it. He put his chin on the back of his hand and said, "We’re supposed to find out at a meeting every other night. The producer already named off who’s gonna be performing tomorrow night."

Richie smiled as he looked over at Stan's serious expression, "And trust and believe I will let you two know when I’m finally chosen to go up.”

“You better or I’m gonna change the locks, so you can’t get in when you come back.” Stan threatened.

“This is why I love you Stan…you always keep me in check.” Richie laughed.

For the rest of the night, Richie and Stan (and the occasional comment from Mike) talked about what happened with in the past few days. Richie noticed how Stan smiled at him whenever he mentioned Eddie.

 _Okay,_ Richie thought as he said goodbye and ending the call, _Stan definitely knows there’s no hope for me…I’m smitten by Eddie._


	7. Won't You Be Mine

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After spending a good amount of time together, Richie is wanting to get closer to Eddie. To his dismay, Eddie continues to pull away from him, even when Richie can see that Eddie wants to get closer too. Richie really wants to understand why and maybe tonight while playing a game, he'll get his answer.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Writing this chapter just made me want to get drunk and play Cards Against Humanity with my friends, but COVID-19 ain't having that. 😫

For the next two weeks, Richie’s routine would go like this; he would wake up early in the morning for the singing activities and once they were done, he would wait on Eddie to get out of class so they could walk together to the singing workshop.

They would get a break for lunch where him and Eddie would go to the hotel’s dining area and challenge each other to see who could eat the fastest.

After the singing workshop was over and done with, they would go to Ben and Beverly’s room where they would just chill or listen to each other’s music.

After a while, Bill started hanging out with them too. Richie had turned on a Pentatonix song and they all started singing. 

“We got some pretty good harmony going on here.” Beverly said, smiling.

“Oooo!! We should totally form a singing group of some kind.” Richie said, excited.

“Like Pentatonix?” Ben asked.

Richie nodded quickly. “Yeah, but better because you know…we’re us.”

Eddie giggled. “I don’t think we’ll be better than Pentatonix, but yeah I definitely agree to the forming a group part.” They all began eagarly discussing different group names to call themselves.

On the nights they didn’t hang out in Ben and Beverly’s room, him and Eddie would sneak out the hotel and go to their new favorite spot, the diner that was just a few minutes away.

They would have a field day annoying the waitress that served them the first night. She always had that look that she wanted to strangle them both when she saw them walk through the door.

Once they got back to the hotel, Richie would Eddie to his room, and before Eddie would go in, they would give each other the same longing look they always gave each other and every time Richie would even think about doing anything, Eddie would pull away and retreat into his room, wishing him a goodnight’s sleep.

Richie would kiss his hand and place it on Eddie’s door. “Hope you sleep well tonight too, Eds.” Richie would ruefully say. 

He would amble back to his room, an overwhelming sense of dejection taking over him and retire for the night, mentally preparing himself to do it all over again the next day.

🎶🎶🎶🎶🎶

After going through the motions, everybody settled down into their seats in the conference room.

The producer smiled and rubbed his hands together. “Alright, it’s time to name the next set of people who will be performing tomorrow night!”

Richie straightened up in his seat. He was beginning to hate this part, his anxiety eating away at him, only to be disappointed when his name wasn’t called.

He exhaled slowly and listened as the producer started calling people’s names.

“Alyssa Matthews, Joel Smith, Hymn & Her,” Richie looked over to see a wide grin on Beverly’s pretty face, “Edward Kaspbrak, William Denbrough,” Richie glanced over at Eddie and saw him smiling excitedly his way,

 _He’s gonna fucking kill it!_ Richie thought as he returned the smile and gave him a thumbs up.

“Richard Tozier…” Richie perked up when he heard the producer call his name.

He smiled a bit and looked over to Eddie again who was silently clapping and nodding. Richie laughed quietly to himself and shook his head. The producer called out one more name and began explaining everything Richie had already heard before.

🎶🎶🎶🎶🎶

“Oh my fucking god! All of us are going to be performing tomorrow night! We gotta go celebrate!” Beverly squealed, her arms wrapped around both Richie and Ben.

Eddie was in front of them, smiling brightly. “Most definitely! I—”

“Eddie bear! Let’s go! My show is coming on in fifteen minutes!!” Sonia yelled.

Eddie rolled his eyes and sighed. “See ya later on tonight guys!” Eddie turned and walked away.

“Bye Eddie.” Beverly said sadly.

“What’s his mom’s fucking deal?” Ben asked, frowning.

Richie shrugged and said, “I don’t know, my guess is it’s been a while since someone has filled her out like an application.”

Beverly made a face and Ben raised an eyebrow and said, “What?”

Richie looked at them like the answer was fucking obvious. “You know…no one’s jamming the clam, plowing through the bean field, tickling her tummy from the inside—”

Beverly snorted and put her hand up to stop Richie. “Beep beep Richie… _god!_ ”

Richie smiled and said, “Just saying what everyone was thinking.”

Ben shook his head. “I wasn’t thinking about any of that.”

Ben and Beverly walked Richie to his room and Beverly hugged him. “See you later on Redwood.”

“Redwoo—” Richie narrowed his eyes at Beverly. “Oh ha ha! Because Redwoods are the world’s tallest tree…get the hell out of here Marsh!”

He inserted his key into the door and walked inside, Beverly giggling the entire time.

🎶🎶🎶🎶🎶

“Come on man! That card was fucking funny!” Richie griped as Eddie handed Ben the black card.

“Obviously it wasn’t because it would’ve won.” Eddie retorted, rolling his eyes.

“I’m calling a foul here!” Richie yelled, throwing his cards on the bed.

“You’re just mad because my Benny boo is funnier than you.” Beverly teased. She stuck her tongue out at Richie and he did it back.

“Benny boo? Wow Gingersnap…the pet names are getting kind of interesting.” Richie snorted.

Beverly flipped him off and kissed Ben on the cheek. “He’s just jealous babe.”

Bill chuckled and picked up a black card. “W-What’s harshing m-m-my m-mellow, man?”

“Ben fucking cheating is harshing my mellow.” Richie said, looking down at his cards.

Ben laughed and said, “You're such a sore loser, Richard.”

“Oh yes! Say my government name again Benjamin, that’s so fucking hot.” Richie fake moaned.

Eddie laughed and smacked his leg. “Stop it Rich.”

They all looked at their cards and each put one out, facing down. “I’m definitely winning this one.” Richie said, grinning confidently.

Beverly giggled. “I just love how confident you are, Stretch.”

Richie winked. “Well of course, Red. I wouldn’t be Richie Tozier if I wasn’t confident.”

“Well I hope you like confidently losing.” Ben smirked. Richie flipped him off as Bill started reading the cards.

His face starting turning red from how hard he was laughing. “S-S-Somebody else read this! I...I...can't!”

“I got you Bill.” Beverly said, reaching across Ben to grab the stack of cards. She sighed and looked at them. “Oh wow…these are some pretty good ones.” She giggled.

“Mine’s the best.” Richie said proudly.

She smirked at him. “We’ll see…okay what’s harshing my mellow man? Tentacle porn.”

Richie dramatically gasped and touched his chest. “Hentai harshes out your mellow Marsh? Would’ve never guessed.”

“Shut up Tozier. Three dicks at a time.” Beverly covered up her mouth to hide her laugh.

“Sounds like a good time.” Richie said, wiggling his eyebrows.

“I bet it does you sexual deviant.” Beverly quipped. She read off the last two and ended choosing ‘Three dicks at a time’, Ben thrusted his fists in the air, yelling in victory.

“Whoo!! Suck it Tozier!” Ben said, grinning.

“Gladly.” Richie said straight faced. He took one look at Ben's facial expression and started cracking up laughing.

“Beep beep Richie.” Ben said, facepalming.

Beverly got off the bed and headed over to the closet. She reached into her jacket and said, “Alright guys…Ben and I went out and got something to help us celebrate this special occasion.” She turned around holding a blunt.

Richie smiled widely and cheered. “Fuck yes! Spark it up, Marsh!” Beverly put the blunt in her mouth and lit it. She took a long inhale before passing it to Ben.

“A-any other games you all p-play?” Bill asked, taking the blunt from Ben.

“Let’s play two truths and a lie.” Beverly suggested.

Richie tapped his temple and said, “Great minds think alike.” Bill passed it to Eddie who shook his head and moved out the way. “Oh right guys! Eddie isn’t gonna be able to smoke, he has asthma.” Richie said.

Eddie shook his head and said, “I don’t have asthma, Rich.”

Richie’s brow furrowed. “But what about the—”

“My mom made me believe that I had asthma, but really I just suffer from severe panic attacks because of my anxiety.” Eddie explained.

 _Wow...Eddie’s mom really fucking sucks. Like really fucking sucks_ Richie thought.

Eddie looked back at Bill. “Seriously though, I can’t smoke that. My mom always told me to stay away from the devil’s lettuce.”

Richie, Ben, Bill and Beverly all looked at Eddie for a moment and then they all burst out laughing. “Devil lettuce?” Richie asked, falling back on the bed, holding his sides.

“Oh fuck…I’m about to pee my pants! Devil lettuce! Oh Eddie you’re just too cute.” Beverly laughed.

“Seriously guys! That’s what she told me! She said it makes you crazy and gives you all these weird sexual urges.” Eddie insisted. 

“Well now…that’s makes a lot of sense…especially in Richie’s case.” Beverly joked. 

Richie put up both of his middle fingers up and said, “First of all, my sexual urges are completely normal, thank you very much, Molly Ringwald.”

“You s...s-sure Ed-Eddie?” Bill asked again.

Eddie looked at the blunt for a while and finally shrugged. “You know what, fuck it. My mom has lied about so fucking much, she probably lied about this too.” Eddie takes the blunt and winced. “Wait…this is has been in all your mouths—”

“Not mine yet, so would you kindly hurry up and take a puff, Eddie Spaghetti.” Richie said, sitting up. Eddie closed his eyes and brought the blunt up to his mouth. He took a shallow inhale and began to cough.

“Oh god!” Eddie wheezed.

Richie laughed and pinched his cheek. “Aww don’t worry my lovely Spaghetti head, you’ll get used it as the night progresses.” Eddie passed to Richie and he took two long inhales.

“Who wants to go first?” Beverly asked. Richie opened his mouth to let a billow of smoke out. “Me.”

Beverly moved to sit crossed-legged. “Okay Slim, start us off.”

Richie passed the blunt to her and laid back down. “I’m eighteen years old, I’m a virgin, and I have no siblings.”

Beverly rolled her eyes. “Richie…you’re not supposed to make it easy for us.”

Richie chuckled. “Well tell me Bev…which one do you think is the lie?”

“You’re obviously not a virgin.” Ben piped up.

Richie made a buzzer sound. “Incorrect, my handsome friend.”

Beverly gasped. “Wait Richie for real? You’re a virgin?”

“Why is that so fucking hard to believe?” Richie asked incredulously.

“Uhhh hello you first time you met me you asked where you sign up to jump on my dick…” Ben said.

“You still haven’t told me where.” Richie said, winking.

Ben pointed at him. “See! There’s just no way!”

Richie sat up on his elbows and said, “Just because a person constantly talks or in my case jokes about sex doesn’t mean they’re not a virgin, plus I always heard that virgins are the main ones that talk about it.”

“I’ve never heard that Richie.” Beverly argued, laughing.

“Well I have so…suck on that…oh by the way Ben?” Ben passed the joint to Bill and looked at him. “Actually you were right. I’m not a virgin.”

“So you just wanted to give me a hard time?” Richie opened his mouth, but Ben cut him off. “Beep beep Richie.”

Richie frowned and put his arms up. “I didn’t even say anything!”

“You were going to, who’s next?” Ben looked around.

Beverly raised her hand. “I’ve been a jail, I have a daughter, and I’m thirty-two years old, you can’t play this round Ben.” Ben opened his mouth to argue, but Beverly cut him off. “It would be cheating if you did because you already know the answers babe.”

“Yeah Ben give us a chance to win, you cheater.” Richie said, smirking.

Ben rolled his eyes and crossed his arms, pouting. “Whatever.” Bill and Richie rubbed his their chins as they thought.

“I don’t believe you’ve been to jail.” Eddie said finally.

Beverly looked at him and smiled. “Why do you think that Eddie?”

“Well because you look so nice, I can’t imagine you doing anything that would land you in jail.” Eddie said, smiling.

Beverly put her hand over her chest. “Awww Eddie, you’re so sweet, but unfortunately you’re wrong.”

Richie sat up. “Oh yeah, you’re definitely telling this story.”

Beverly shrugged. “There’s really not much to tell. I went to jail for defending myself against my ex-husband.” Ben cringed.

“Oh shit…” Richie breathed out.

Bill gulped. “D...D-Did he do t-time as well?”

Beverly nodded. “He’s in prison.” They were all silent for a moment until Beverly slapped her thighs. “Wanna take another guess?”

“I-I don’t believe you’re thir...thir... in your thirties.” Bill said.

Beverly chuckled and pointed to Bill. “Ding ding ding! You are correct sir.”

“How old are you…if you don’t mind me asking?” Eddie asked, picking a piece of string on the duvet.

“I’m twenty-five actually.” Beverly took another long inhale from the blunt.

"Wait so that means you have a mini Beverly?! Oh my god! Pictures! I bet she's so cute!!" Eddie squealed as Beverly laughed and reached to pull out her phone. 

🎶🎶🎶🎶🎶

As the game went on, things began to get more interesting. Richie couldn’t stop thinking how cute Eddie was when he was high as a kite.

“Alright, alright okay…” Eddie giggled. “I’m a virgin, I’m a huge Jonas Brothers fan, and I sleep naked.”

Richie's eyes almost bulged out of his head. “Please let the last one be true!” Richie blurted out.

Eddie laughed and said, “Is that your guess Rich?” Richie shook his head and said, “No…more like a dream that I wish would come true.”

Eddie gently smacked his stomach and giggled. “Well consider your dream crushed because that’s not true.”

Richie stuck his lip out and pouted. “Fuck.”

“You’re a huge Jonas Brothers fan?” Beverly asked, tickled.

Eddie nodded. “Yep! Look.” Eddie pulled out his phone and unlocked it. "I heard one of their songs while watching TV one day and I have been hooked every since. I used to wait until my mom left the house to listen to their music. I had a secret stash of their CDs." He chuckled lightly.

He scrolled through his gallery and scrolled to show a picture of him when he was younger wearing a shirt with Nick Jonas’s face on it.

 _Cute cute cute!_ Richie thought as he looked at the picture. He could feel a dopey, lovesick smile slowly make it's way across his face. 

“Seems like you’re more of a Nick Jonas fan, than a Jonas Brothers fan.” Ben laughed.

Eddie blushed and said, “Well yeah I love all of them, but I’ve been a fan of Nick ever since he released his very first solo album.”

Richie blinked. “Wait he has three solo albums?”

Eddie nodded quickly and began gushing over Nick like a lovesick fangirl. Richie wanted to feel to jealous, but he just couldn’t, not when Eddie had that adorable look on his face.

Richie could sit and watch Eddie talk about something he was passionate about for hours, he didn't care. 

“Oooo! Someone is in love with Nick Jonas.” Beverly teased.

Eddie blushed harder and covered his face. He pulled himself together and dropped his hands. “I’m not in love with him, I just have a high level of admiration for him.”

“That’s kind of the same thing.” Ben interjected.

“No it’s not!” Eddie yelled. Richie and Bill laughed as the three of them went back and forth. Then realization hit Richie.

_Eddie is still a virgin…that’s why he keeps pulling away before I can go in and kiss him…makes a lot of sense..._

Richie was pulled out of his thoughts when Beverly began ticking Eddie, still teasing him about his crush. 

🎶🎶🎶🎶🎶

When 11:30PM came around, they were all scattered all over the room, high. Beverly and Ben were in the bed. Bill was in the chair, out cold and snoring. Eddie and Richie were on the floor.

“Richie.” Beverly muttered. Richie made a noise of acknowledgement. “When’s your birthday?”

Richie rubbed his eyes. “November 7th? Why?”

Beverly’s head lolled to the side to look at him. “A Scorpio? Huh…I thought you were a Gemini…”

Richie laughed and said, “Why? Because I'm outgoing and impulsive as opposed to being cold and mysterious?” Beverly nodded slowly.

Richie smiled and sighed. “Nah. I guess I’m the weird kind of Scorpio.”

“Or your rising sign is in Gemini…” Beverly supplied.

“I don’t know what that is so I’m just gonna nod and agree.” Richie said, yawning. 

Beverly giggled. “I’ll explain more about it later…Eddie…sweetheart?” Eddie was staring at the wall when Beverly called him.

Beverly called his name a little louder. “Huh?” he jerked his head to look at her.

“When is your birthday?” Eddie closed his eyes. “Hmmm…ummm…give me a minute.”

Beverly sat up and shook her head. “Ben I think we broke poor Eddie.”

Richie belly crawled over to Eddie and touched his leg. “Eds? You okay?”

Eddie put his hand over Richie’s and squeezed lightly. “That’s not my name…”

Richie put his thumb in the air. “He’s okay my good folks.”

“August 30th!” Eddie finally blurted out.

“A Virgo? Hmmm…I guess that makes sense.” Beverly shrugged.

“Wait what do Virgos do again?” Richie asked.

“They are very sweet people, don’t get me wrong, but the ones I’ve ran across have been overly critical and downright mean sometimes about my choices.” Beverly said, playing with her hair.

“Are they huge germaphobes?” Richie snorted when Eddie lightly smacked him upside the head. His hand lingered there beginning to thread through Richie’s hair.

Richie closed his eyes and melted into Eddie’s touch, laying his head on Eddie’s thigh.

Beverly put a strand of her hair between her top lip and nose and said, “I read that Scorpios and Virgos are potential soulmates. Like love at first sight type of deal.” Beverly grunted as she stood up and moved the duvet back on the bed.

Richie’s eyes shot open as Eddie stopped rubbing his hair. “Really?” Eddie asked, nervously. Beverly nodded, covering herself with the duvet.

Eddie looked down at his watch and cleared his throat. “Well I better get back to my room, don’t want my mom to wake up and see that I’m missing…do you mind Rich?”

“Oh shit, sorry.” Richie said quietly as he moved his head off on Eddie’s thigh. Eddie quickly stood up and walked over to the door.

Richie stood up as well. “Do you want me to—”

“No I’m fine. Ummm…Thanks again Bev and Ben, I had fun tonight.” Beverly and Ben’s snores answered him. Eddie shook his head and chuckled.

He looked at Richie and smiled slightly. “Goodnight Rich…” He closed the door.

Richie waved sadly and sighed. “Goodnight Eddie…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Richie just wants your love Eddie! Love him! 😭


	8. Can We Talk?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After Eddie ran away last night, Richie tries to talk to him to see what's going on. To Richie's surprise, Eddie begins to act real cold towards him.

_Richie…_

_A soothing voice called out to Richie. "Mmm...who is that..." Richie mumbled, turning his head trying to locate where the voice was coming from. He moaned as a very soft and hot hand traveled from his ankle up to his shin. The pleasant voice called out to him again._

_Rich…_

_The soft, scorching hand moved further up his leg and Richie suddenly became aware of how obscenely naked he was. He felt a weight settle on his legs._

_Open your eyes Rich…_

_Richie slowly opened his eyes, blinking rapidly as he tried to take in what was in front of him. Richie propped up on his elbows, letting out a strangled moan as his eyes widen. Eddie was straddled across his legs, his eyes full of lust and his bottom lip in between his teeth._

_“Ed-Eddie?” Richie croaked out._

_Eddie smiled and nodded. “Yes Rich baby…it’s me.”_

_Richie’s heart skipped a beat at Eddie calling him baby. “What—what are you—”_

_Eddie put a finger to his lips. “Shhh…just relax.”_

_Richie’s mind slowly tried to catch up to what was going on as Eddie licked his hand and wrapped it around his half-hard dick and began to pump him to full length, agonizingly slow. Richie threw his head back, letting out a loud groan. “Fuck! Eddie…”_

_Eddie’s slow strokes gradually became faster and slicker as his saliva mixed with Richie’s precum. Eddie leaned down and nuzzled into Richie’s neck._

_“I want you so bad Rich…” he whispered. Richie’s breathing began to get shallower as his orgasm raced through him, curling itself around the base of his dick. Eddie’s fist still mercilessly worked as he kissed Richie’s neck._

_“Do you want me Rich?" he whispered again._

_"Yes!” Richie moaned out. “I want you so fucking bad, Eddie.” Richie screwed his eyes shut, his mouth falling slack as his orgasm crept closer and closer and closer—_

Richie’s eyes snapped open as banging came from his door. “Mr. Tozier! I’m here to escort you to Universal Studios! Mr. Tozier!” The PA said.

Richie let a frustrated groan and sat up. “Okay! I’ll be right out!”

He looked down at the tent in his boxers and sighed, running his hand through his hair. “But first, I need a cold shower.”

🎶🎶🎶🎶🎶

Richie shivered as the cool water rushed over his back. He quickly scrubbed at his scalp, trying to work away his erotic dream. That only proved to be futile as he began to imagine Eddie’s fingers scrubbing his scalp. Richie’s dick sprung back to life and he mentally cursed at himself.

“Only way to take care it…” Richie said as he leaned against the shower wall and began tugging at himself. His toes curled as he ran his thumb over his slit.

“Oh Eddie…” he moaned out.

Richie bit his lip as his hips bucked into his fist. “Eddie…I’m so close…I’m—oh fuck!” Richie pumped faster, moaning loudly as fireworks went off behind his eyelids. He slid down the shower wall, his body feeling like jelly and gradually regaining control of his breathing.

Reality suddenly crashed into Richie and he quickly stood up and washed up himself off. Hopping out the shower, he dried off, brushed his teeth and got dressed.

“I’m here, I’m here!” he yelled out as he rushed out his room. The PA jumped in surprised.

“What time is it?” Richie asked, rubbing his eyes.

“4:00AM” the PA answered.

Richie let out a sigh of relief. “Oh Thank fuck, I thought I was late.” The PA chuckled and turned to greet the others as they walked up. Richie looked over to where Eddie was and stealthily made his way over to him.

Richie leaned down and whispered in Eddie’s ear. “Are you a two-octave chromatic scale? Because you leave me breathless…”

Eddie sighed heavily and said, “Hey.”

 _Well, that wasn’t the response I thought I would get_ he thought, taken aback. He shook that thought away and smiled. “How did you sleep last night?”

“I slept okay.” Eddie answered dryly.

Richie took a step back and looked at him. “Are you okay Ed—”

“I’m fine Richie, what do you want?” Eddie snapped. 

Richie was totally taken back by this new attitude. “What do I want? I mean I just wanted to see how you were doing and possibly see if we could talk—”

“Talk? About what?” Eddie wouldn't look at him. He needed Eddie to look at him. 

“About last night and how you ran out of Bev and Ben’s room like the room was on fire.” Richie snapped back. 

“I don’t know what you’re talking about. I gotta go Richie…” Eddie sped up.

 _What the fuck went wrong last night?_ Richie thought as the PA led them outside and onto a bus.

Richie immediately looked for Eddie so he could sit by him and ask what was going on with him, but his hopes were crushed when he saw Eddie sitting next to his mom.

Richie walked slowly in the aisle, looking at Eddie the entire time, hoping to catch his attention.

“Can you hurry and up and sit down! You’re holding the bus up!” Sonia shouted at him.

Richie fought down his snarky retort and looked at Eddie one last time before he walked all the way to the back.

“Good morning, Slim Jim.” Beverly beamed at him. Bill moved over in the seat to let Richie sit down.

“Morning Red riding hood…have any idea what’s wrong with Eddie?” Richie asked, looking at the back of Eddie's adorable head. 

Beverly bit into the baby carrot she was holding and thought as she chewed. “Hmmm…I don’t know. Now that think of it, I haven’t spoken to him this morning…Hey Eddie!!” she yelled.

“Bev! What the fuck?!” Richie hissed as he ducked his head. He peeked over the seat and saw Eddie and his mom looking back, bewildered.

Beverly, Ben and Bill waved at him enthusiastically as Richie gave him an apologetic smile. Eddie gave them a tight-lipped smile and waved back, turning around quickly. Sonia sneered at them and rolled her eyes.

Beverly popped the other half of the carrot in her mouth and said, “You know…you might be right.”

Richie looked over at her. “Huh?”

“The reason why Eddie’s mom is like that…is because no one stuffing her taco.” Beverly laughed, grabbing another baby carrot. 

Richie laughed. “She could use a bit of the old in-out, in-out.” Richie reached over and snagged a couple of carrots from the bag. 

🎶🎶🎶🎶🎶

They cracked jokes on Sonia and played games to keep themselves entertained all the way to Universal Studios.

The producer greeted them with a warm smile. “Good morning everyone! I take it you all got a good night’s sleep.” He was answered by scattered grumblings. “Awesome! Okay follow me.”

He led them through the parking lot and up to a studio with the ‘The Voice’ logo on the side of it. “This is Stage 12, where we will be mainly shooting for the show. We will shoot all day today and some tomorrow. Those of you who were chosen for the interviews will have a crew follow you around and later on today, you will be performing for our coaches.”

“Who are the coaches?” the girl named Alyssa asked.

“Well of course we have Blake Shelton, Kelly Clarkson, John Legend and this season Nick Jonas will be joining us.” Out of the corner of his eye, Richie saw Eddie perk up. “Alright let’s get this show on the road!”

🎶🎶🎶🎶🎶

The next hours went by fast like a blur for Richie. He practiced the song he gonna sing, did a run through on the song so that the band would know where and how to come in, and then he was off to be interviewed.

Richie's eyes squinted underneath the bright lights. "Good afternoon Mr. Tozier, I'm Bryan Lane and I'll be doing your interview."

"Nice to meet you Bryan." Richie reached out and shook his hand.

Bryan sat down and said, “So let’s start from the beginning. Where did your love of music come from?”

Richie looked at the guy interviewing him nervously and swallowed. “Uhhh…” he huffed a nervous laugh and scratched his face. “Well it came from my mother. Yeah she told me when she was pregnant with me, she used to put the headphones on her stomach and let me listen to whatever song she thought I would like. Apparently I loved all of them because she said I would just go crazy.”

Bryan laughed. “Aww that’s cute…can you tell us a little bit about your family life?”

Richie started feeling hot. He really didn’t like talking about his family much. “Ummm…there’s really not much to tell. I mean my mom raised me all on her own and that’s pretty much it.”

Bryan frowned a bit. “So your dad left, or he died?”

 _Fucking hell!_ Richie thought, pulling at his shirt to cool down. “Guys I really don’t want to talk about this…”

Bryan gave Richie a disapproving look and nodded. “Okay…how about this? We’ll let you get yourself together and come back in five minutes.”

Richie sighed and nodded. “Okay.”

“Alright everyone let’s take five.” Bryan got up and walked away.

The crew put their stuff down and began going over what to do next. Richie got up and slipped into a nearby room. He yanked his phone out and called Stan.

Stan answered after the second ring. “Hey Richie.”

“Stan…I need your help. So much shit is going on and I’m about to have a panic attack.” Richie could feel his heartrate going up as he talked.

“Okay Richie breathe…do your breathing exercises.” Richie listened to the sound of Stan’s voice as he breathed in for four seconds, held the breath for seven seconds, and exhaled for eight seconds. He continued to do that until his breathing started to get easier.

“Alright…so what’s happening Richie?” Stan asked.

Richie started ranting. “I’m doing a damn interview and the guy is asking me about my family life and I really don’t want to get into how my dad left us as my mom slowly died from cancer and I was the one who had to take care of everything! Plus, for some reason…Eddie is acting strange towards me now. Like Stan we were hanging out damn near every day and last night after Beverly mentioned something about our signs possibly being soulmates, he ran out the room like deer being chased by a lion and—”

“Antelope.” Stan corrected.

“What?” Richie asked, confused.

Stan began to explain. “You said he ran out the room like deer, when the correct animal would be—”

“Stanley I’m going through a fucking crisis right now and you’re worried about which correct animal I should use!!” Richie yelled.

“You’re right. I’m sorry Richie…just tell them you’re not comfortable answering any questions about your family. You have that right.”

Richie rubbed his aching eyes. “Do I? By the look on the guy’s face when I said I didn’t want to get into my family, it doesn’t seem like I do.”

“Yes you do. If they don’t agree, then just fucking walk out.” Richie smiled a bit. “Walk out like a boss.” Stan added on.

Richie chuckled. “Thanks Stan…what should I do about Eddie?”

“Talk to him and see what’s going on…” Stan said simply.

Richie groaned in frustration. “I fucking tried, and he acted so cold towards me. And to be honest, I don’t even think I’ll get a second chance now! His mom has been extra fucking clingy today since we’re fucking filming…”

Stan sighed. “Well then you’re just gonna have to find a moment when he’s alone Richie.”

“Stan…it’s gonna be hard…” Richie whined like a child.

“It may be hard, but it’s the adult thing to do.” Stan said matter of factly. 

Richie groaned, finally conceding. “You know I hate adulting…speaking of hard…I had a wet dream about Edd—”

“Alright time to get off the phone now!” Stan yelled.

Richie laughed. “That’s not fair, I practically saw you and Mike fucking, and you won’t even let me talk about my wet dream…”

“We’re not going to get into that Richie…Mike and I will be there later on to cheer you on when you perform. Alright I gotta go back to work. Bye!” Stan hung up.

Richie took one more long breath and walked into the room, ready to follow Stan’s advice.


	9. The Choice Is Yours

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Blind Auditions...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally succeeded in writing one of the main reasons I originally started this fic 😂
> 
> Apologies for this chapter being so short. ❤
> 
> [Song Richie sings:](https://open.spotify.com/track/73txlSnNeD6J4n6ajhPxOe?si=NcH0e__JQlqHkKYqh1HSGA)

“You got this Richie! You got fucking got this!” Stan said as he fixed the collar on Richie's blazer.

“Yeah you practically already won the competition!” Mike added.

Stan cringed and looked at Mike. “Bring it down some babe.” Mike nodded and handed Stan Richie’s tie.

Stan looped it around his neck as he started questioning him. “Have you been working on your breathing?” Richie nodded.

“Drinking plenty of water?” Richie lifted up a bottle. “Room temperature?”

Richie rolled his eyes and smiled. "Yes Staniel." 

Stan tightened up the tie and smoothed it down. “Okay…remember breathe from your diaphragm and fucking kill it!”

“Richard Tozier! You’re up next!” The PA said.

Richie hugged Stan and Mike and smiled. “Thank you guys.” He followed the PA to the edge of the stage.

“Nervous?” The PA asked. Richie nodded and exhaled sharply. “Don’t be. It’s going to be just like how you rehearsed early this morning. By the way…you did really good.”

“Thanks man.” Richie said, smiling.

“No problem. Here you go,” he handed Richie the microphone, “you’re good to go on.”

Richie walked out into the dark stage and got into position. "I can do this...I can do this." Richie chanted to himself. He brought the mic up to his lips and began to sing.

_They say don’t rush, just overcome, and never give it up, but that’s impossible, ‘cuz when we’re talking ‘bout, all our love will never get enough_

The lights slowly came on as the audience started cheering and Richie continued to sing.

_I can’t forward see where this will lead, but I’m the first to arrive, and I swear that I’ll never leave, yeah my heart beats to your loyalty_

Richie started to feel the song, closing his eyes and executing gorgeous runs and riffs. When the beat drop for the chorus, Richie put his all into it. The audience went wild when he hit an impressive C5 note during the ending of the song.

He opened his eyes to see all four coaches turned around, John and Blake's chairs showing that they have been blocked. Kelly was standing up, clapping and smiling widely. Richie bowed and smiled. “Thank you. Thank you so much.”

Kelly sat down. “Oh my god! What is your name?”

Richie brought the mic back up to his mouth. “My name is Richie Tozier.”

“Richie! That was just…I’m speechless! You have amazing range! I particularly loved how you at the end, you held that one note for what seemed like forever and I didn’t think you could do any better than that, but then you pushed through with that solid C5!! Oh man! Incredible!!” Kelly stood up and clapped again.

Richie’s face was starting to hurt from hard he was smiling. “Thank you so much Kelly.”

Nick nodded and started to speak. “I just want to say that I turned as soon as I heard that run you did during the pre-chorus,” the audience cheers as Nick mimics the same run, “that blew my mind. How old are you?”

“I’m eighteen.” Richie answered. 

“Eighteen and you sound like that?” John interjected.

Richie laughed and said, “Thank you.”

Carson Daly began to talk. “Alright Richie! Now you have to choose whose team you want to be on! Is it Team Kelly?” Kelly pointed to herself and mouthed ‘Pick me, pick me!’ “Or…Team Nick? The choice is yours!”

Richie looked at Kelly and said, “Kelly, I love your music so much and have been a huge fan of yours since you were American Idol.”

Kelly batted her eyelashes. “Why thank you.”

Richie looked at Nick. “Nick, I just want to say that I am so happy you and your brothers are back together! Your second album ‘Jonas Brothers’ was the best album off all time in opinion!”

“Thank you.” Nick said, smiling.

Richie exhaled slowly and said, “Okay…I’m going to choose…”

🎶🎶🎶🎶🎶

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Which team do you think Richie will choose to be on? 🤔
> 
> Better yet...which team would you pick for Richie to be on? 🤔
> 
> Team Kelly 🎶 or Team Nick 😍
> 
> Comment below! 😊


	10. Painful Revelation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Richie finally picks which team he's going to be on and finds out whose team Eddie is going to be on, after an awkward situation...a dark secret is revealed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trigger Warning: Implied Child Abuse
> 
> [The song Eddie sings:](https://open.spotify.com/track/6MowG7MRVgPfGlCMsXKMJ2?si=zTBwO-hwRx285HswGnRZJw)

There they all sat on Beverly and Ben’s bed, Richie bouncing his leg, gnawing on his fingernail, and occasionally glancing at Eddie to see what his reaction would be. They all cheered when Nick turned first. Richie smiled at his facial expression.

“Nick was the first one to turn for you…wow…” Eddie said in awe.

Richie looked at him and smiled. His smile fell when he noticed Eddie was wearing a long-sleeved shirt.

 _It’s fucking 80° in here! Why the fuck does he have that on?_ he thought.

Eddie turned and locked eyes with him and he quickly turned away, flushing red. Beverly grabbed his arm and shook him. “Richie you sound fucking amazing! Who would’ve known a skinny boy like you had such a powerhouse of a voice!”

Richie chuckled and threw a pillow at her. “Fuck you Marsh.”

“Shhh! Richie’s about to choose which team he’s gonna be on!” Ben said sharply. They turned their heads towards the TV and listened.

“Kelly, I love your music so much and have been a huge fan of yours since you were American Idol.” Richie gushed. 

The camera switched to Kelly who was batting her eyelashes. “Why thank you.”

The camera switched back to Richie who looked at Nick. “Nick, I just want to say that I am so happy you and your brothers are back together! Your second album ‘Jonas Brothers’ was the best album off all time in opinion!”

The camera switched to Nick who smiled and said, “Thank you.”

Eddie side eyed Richie. “Didn’t know you were a Jonas Brothers’ fan too…”

Richie smirked at him. “You never asked…” Eddie narrowed his eyes and turned back to the TV. The suspense was building with every switch of the camera.

First to Richie and then to Nick, back to Richie, then to Kelly. The music began to swell as Richie exhaled slowly and said, “Okay…I’m going to choose…”

Richie noticed that the others were leaning forward, anxiously awaiting Richie’s choice.

🎶🎶🎶🎶🎶

“I love you Kelly…but I’m gonna have to go with Nick.” Richie said quickly. 

Nick jumped up out his chair and yelled out, “Yes!” The audience went wild as Nick ran up on stage and shook Richie’s hand, smiling and talking to him.

“What did he say to you?” Ben asked.

Richie smiled and said, “He told me how happy he was that I chose to be on his team and how I wouldn’t regret it.”

Beverly squealed and jumped on him, kissing him on the cheek. “Richie! I’m so fucking proud of you!”

Richie laughed and squeezed her tightly. “Thank you Beverly, I was so fucking nervous…I thought I was going to throw up on stage honestly.”

Bill laughed. “Th-That would've m...m... been p-pretty embarrassing.”

Richie grinned and nodded. “Right you are my dear Billiam. Who’s performing next?”

Eddie pointed to the TV. “I am.”

Richie turned to look him and smiled. “Alright! Let’s see what Eddie Spaghetti’s working with!”

He clapped Eddie on the shoulder and Eddie grimaced slightly. “Stop calling me that.” Richie retracted his hand quickly and turned to watch Eddie’s performance.

A beautiful piano melody started playing and the lights came on as Eddie started singing. Instantly Richie got goosebumps and he shivered. “Wow…” him and Beverly said in unison.

Kelly turned quickly and covered her mouth when she saw Eddie. The audience went crazy as Eddie voice gradually got higher as he sung the ending of the refrain.

Suddenly Nick turned around and immediately blocked Kelly. Kelly gasped and pointed at Nick. Her words drowned out by the music. Eddie ended the song crooning out, _I’ll shout it out like a bird set free._

Nick and Kelly stood up, giving him the applause he so rightfully deserved. Blake and John’s chairs slowly turned, and Nick spoke up. “One question…how were you able to pull off singing a Sia song?!”

Eddie smiled shyly and looked down. “Practice…lots and lots of practice.”

Beverly shook her head in amazement. “Eddie…your range is out of this fucking world! What are you again?”

“Contra tenor.” Richie and him said at the same time. Richie noticed something close to fondness quickly flash across Eddie’s features before they settled back into a neutral look.

“G-guys! Ed...Ed... He's about t-to c-c-choose.” Bill announced. Their attention was back on the TV.

“Eddie…the choice is yours.” Carson Daly exclaimed.

“We already know who he’s going to choose.” Beverly teased, pinching Eddie’s cheek. Eddie gently swatted her hand away and blushed.

🎶🎶🎶🎶🎶

“I choose Team Nick!” Eddie said excitedly. 

Nick stood up again and threw his hands up in victory. Kelly pouted playfully in her chair and finally smiled when Nick came up and held his hand up.

She reluctantly gave him a high five and Nick ran up on stage. Richie, Bill, Beverly and Ben all cracked up at the lovesick look on Eddie’s face as Nick shook his hand.

“Shut up guys! It’s not everyday you get to work with the celebrity you admire.” Eddie griped.

“More like love.” Beverly quipped.

Eddie just blushed a deeper red and covered his face, his hands muffling his voice. “I don’t love him.”

Beverly stood up and beamed at them. “So that means you two are going to be working together!!,” She suddenly gasped, “Oh my gosh! You two are going to have to battle each other!!”

Richie stood up and put his arm around her. “Well…if that’s case, then I’ll gladly take one for the team and let Eddie win.”

Eddie stood up quickly and walked up to him with a challenging look in his eye. “Let me? Rich…I’d mop the floor with you…literally.” He smirked as he ruffled Richie’s wild curls.

Richie barked out a laugh. “Holy shit! Eds just roasted me! Who knew you had it in you!”

Eddie crossed his arms and popped his hip out. Richie squealed in delight! “Oh my lovely spaghetti head! You are just too cute cute cute!!” Richie grabbed his face and leaned down to give him another Eskimo kiss. Eddie quickly pulled back and almost stumbled over Bill’s feet.

Richie looked at him in surprise “Eds—"

Eddie laughed nervously. “Uhh,” he looked down at his watch, “I gotta go! It’s getting pretty late.”

Beverly looked at the clock on the wall. “Eddie…it’s only 9:15PM”

Eddie walked briskly to the door. “Well good! That just means I get to rest early…goodnight everybody!” He opened the door and headed out into the hallway.

“Eds! Eddie wait!” Richie called after him. He looked back at Beverly and she nodded.

He rushed out into the hall after Eddie. Eddie began to speed up when he heard Richie call out to him again. “Eddie! Slow down!”

Richie used his long legs to his advantage and started taking longer strides. Eddie made it the elevator, persistently pressing the ‘UP’ button. Richie made it to him before the doors could open.

“Eddie please talk to me…what did I do? Did I say something to you that night? Please just let me know what I did wrong…” Richie begged.

Eddie stared hard at the floor. “You didn’t do anything Rich…it was me…all me…”

Richie looked at him confused. “What? What do you mean it was all you? Eddie come on…”

Eddie looked up at him with tears in his eyes. “Me Rich…I’m in the wrong…my mom said so.” Eddie made the mistake of lifting his shirt to wipe his tears away.

Richie’s eyes widen in horror as he gawked at the large, blue and purplish bruises on Eddie’s torso.

Richie felt his eyes begin to water as he stared at the angry marks marring Eddie's pale white skin. Eddie swiftly jerked his shirt down, but it was too late.

Richie took Eddie’s hand. “Eddie…did your mom…did she do that to you?” Eddie snatched his hand away from him and ran down the hall towards the stairs.

Richie just stood there, in a daze…trying to figure out what he going to do to help Eddie.


	11. Save Me From This Misery

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Still in shock from seeing the bruises on Eddie, Richie finally (with the help of Stan) decides to do something about it...until he hears a knock on his door.

“I…I don’t know Stan…I just froze up when I saw them…fuck…” Richie rubbed his eyes and groaned.

Stan sighed. “Well it’s not too late to call the police.”

Tears began to well up in Richie’s eyes. “Yeah...yeah you’re right Stan,” Richie said, sniffling. “You’re right. I’m gonna—” Richie paused when he heard a soft knock at his door. “Hold on Stan…somebody’s at my door.”

He got up and made his way over to it. He looked through the peephole and gasped. “Holy fuck…”

“What? Who is it?” Stan asked, worried.

Richie swallowed thickly. “It’s Eddie…”

Stan gasped. “Wha—”

“Hey Stan, let me call you back.” He hung up before Stan could say anything. He opened the door quickly. “Hey Eddie…”

Eddie looked up at him and smiled hesitantly. “Hey Richie…can I come in?”

Richie didn’t realize he was staring at Eddie until Eddie asked him again to let him in. “Oh yeah of course.” Richie quickly moved out of his way.

Eddie gave him a tight-lipped smile and walked past him into his room. Richie closed the door and turned, opening his mouth to speak when Eddie cut him off. “You can’t tell anyone about what you saw!”

Richie gawked at him. “What?! Eddie…your mom…your mom is fucking abusing you man! We have to tell the police! She…she shouldn’t be doing this to you!”

Eddie glared at him, his hands balling into fists. “Shut up Rich! Just…god shut the fuck up!” Eddie quickly wiped his face. “My mom…she did this…because I was bad…I keep having bad thoughts and I didn’t sing what she told me to sing, I didn’t choose who she told me to choose…she’s only trying to help me because she loves me.”

Richie shook his head in disbelief. “Eddie…you said it yourself that she lies about everything, but you still believe that she’s beating on you because she’s loves you?! That’s not love!”

Eddie’s fists began to shake. “She does love me Richie…she…oh god…” Eddie went from glaring at him to suddenly falling to his knees, his body racking with sobs. “Help me Richie…please…you got to help me…”

Richie rushed to his side. “I will Eddie…I will help you! We have to call the police.”

Eddie suddenly grabbed his shoulders and shook his head. “No…you can’t do that…they’ll put me in the system…and who knows…I might end up in the same predicament or worse…”

Richie sighed in frustration. “Then what can I do to help you Eddie?”

Eddie looked him in the eyes. “Can I stay with you in your room…until you know all of this is over?”

Richie’s eyes widened. “Huh?”

Eddie began to repeat his question. “Can I stay—”

“I heard you the first time, I just need a minute to process…holy hell…” Richie’s heart was working into double time. _Eddie wants to stay here…in **MY** room…oh my fucking god! He...wha—, _Richie was on the verge of having a heart attack from how shocked he was.

He vaguely registered Eddie waving a hand in front of his face. “Hellloooo…Riiichhh…”

Richie blinked and looked at him. “Yes!” he blurted out. Eddie jerked back in surprise. Richie smiled apologetically and repeated calmly, “Yes, you can stay here…what about your mom?”

Eddie sighed heavily. “I’ll just have to tell her that I’ll be staying in Bill’s room…for some reason she really likes him…”

Richie frowned. “She does know that Bill hangs out with us right?”

Eddie nodded and sighed. “Yeah she knows. She pretty much told me that out of you, Bev, Ben and Bill...she trusts him the most.”

“What about me?” Richie asked, already knowing the answer to his question.

Eddie just looked at him. “You know the answer to that question…”

Richie laughed. “What about on a scale? One to Ten…”

Eddie got up and dusted himself off. “You’re a negative twenty…”

Richie put his hand to his chest and playfully winced. “Ouch…”

Eddie giggled as Richie stood up. “Sooo...I have to go get some of my things…ummm…I’ll be back…” Eddie opened the door and walked out.

Richie sat down on his bed and ran his hands through his hair. “This is fine…everything is going to be fine.”

🎶🎶🎶🎶🎶

**_Five Days Later…_ **

_This is not fine! Everything is not **FUCKING FINE!!!**_ Richie thought as he stared at Eddie walking out the shower with nothing but a towel around his waist. His torso still had the marks on them, but Richie could tell they were healing by the yellow color.

A part of him felt a sense of relief for that, but that was quickly becoming overpowered by the strong feeling of arousal washing over him as he looked at Eddie’s chest.

Eddie jumped when he saw him. “Oh shit! I thought you went to Ben and Beverly’s room?” Richie pushed his jaw up with his hand and shook his head. Eddie ears began to turn red as he and Richie stared each other down.

Richie started backing towards the door. “Ummm…I’m just gonna…”

“Yeah…I’m gonna…” Eddie slowly backed up into the bathroom and closed the door.

Richie shut the door behind him quickly and leaned his head against it. He covered his face with his hands and slid down, groaning loudly. "Why do I torture myself like this?" 

🎶🎶🎶🎶🎶


	12. Let Me Kiss Away Your Pain

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Richie felt like he was being tested...and he wanted to fail so bad! His body practically ached with want from having Eddie so close to him. If only he could reach out and hold him...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So when writing this chapter, I pretty much put myself in Eddie's shoes. LOL I would totally gush over Joe, Nick, and Kevin if given the chance 😂
> 
> Also, this chapter is for @[NateWonderland](https://archiveofourown.org/users/NateWonderland/pseuds/NateWonderland)  
> Told you the song would be used in this fic 😉

Every night they climbed into the bed together, Richie was slowly being tortured. He stared at the back of Eddie’s head while slept and ached to reach out and hold him. When he had the perfect opportunity to do so…he fucked it up.

Richie jerked awake when Eddie woke up screaming, “No ma! Please stop! I’m sorry!”

He sat up and turned on the bedside lamp, grabbing his glasses in the process. He quickly put them on and looked at Eddie. “Hey Eds…you alright?”

He instantly recognized Eddie having a hard time getting air into his lungs. He started frantically pointing to his bag.

“Your inhaler?” Richie asked, jumping out the bed.

Eddie nodded and kept pointing to his bag. Richie ran over to it and unzipped it hastily. He began rummaging through it, tossing some of the contents out of it until he found what he was looking for. He rushed back over to Eddie with the inhaler and pushed into his groping hand.

Eddie shoved the inhaler into his mouth and pressed down on it. He gasped out, the color slowly returning to his face. He smiled gratefully at Richie and looked down.

“Thanks.” He said softly.

Richie flopped down on the bed and sighed. “No problem.”

Eddie pulled his knees to his chest and wrapped his arms around them. Richie sat up when he heard Eddie sobbing softly.

“Hey…”, he shifted closer to Eddie and reached out to pull Eddie into a hug.

_That’s not a good idea..._

a voice in his head whispered to him. Richie closed his eyes and pulled back. “Hey…man…it’s okay. Everything is going to be okay.”

Eddie lifted his head up and looked at him. “Rich…please…just be quiet.” Richie nodded and mimed zipping his lips shut. Richie sat there looking up at the ceiling while Eddie sobbed quietly.

🎶🎶🎶🎶🎶

“So how are you currently dealing with temporarily sharing a bed with the guy you’re in love with?” Stan asked, a smug grin on his face.

Richie quickly looked around the room to make sure nobody heard his loud ass friend he was currently facetiming. “Goddamnit Stan! Want him to fucking hear you?”

Richie rolled his eyes when Stan laughed out loud. “Sorry! I’m sorry! All jokes asides…how are you dealing with it?”

Richie groaned. “It’s fucking horrible Stan! I have to wake up two hours earlier than him, just so I can go jack off to the dream I had about him!”

Stan grimaced. “Ugh! Did not need to know that…”

“Well now you do!” Richie said, smirking.

“Soo what is he gonna do about his mom? He can’t just hide in your room forever…” Stan asked.

Richie shrugged and propped his leg up on the stool in front of him. “I don’t know. I tried asking him about it, but all he says is ‘We’ll cross that bridge when we get to it…”

Stan rolled his eyes. “He’s starting to sound more annoying than you and that’s something I didn’t think was feasible.”

Richie made a face at him and mocked him when he laughed. “Hahaha! Very funny Staniel…how’s everything with you and Mike?”

Stan was just about to answer when said person called out to him. “Sugarlamb…Daddy Mikey’s home!” Stan’s face turned beet red as a horrified expression flashed across his face.

Richie bellowed out laughter, doubling over and holding his stomach. Tears started flowing down his face from hard he was laughing. “Sugarlamb? Oh! I’m definitely using that name to my advantage!”

Stan glared at him. “I will fucking end you if you do! I gotta go!” Richie was still laughing when he hung up.

“What’s so funny?” Eddie asked, walking up to him.

Richie wiped his face and began trying to calm down. “Oh it’s nothing…just Mike gave me some ammunition to use against Stan for the next few months.”

Eddie smiled as he sat down on the stool next to Richie. “I would like to meet them one day. They sound like pretty cool people.”

Richie put his phone in his pocket and looked at Eddie. “Mike is cool as fuck…Stan on the other hand…” Richie stopped mid-sentence to think for a moment. “No…you two would get along just fine…”

Eddie furrowed his brow a bit and opened his mouth to ask what Richie meant by that when Nick and his brothers, Joe and Kevin, walked in.

“Hey guys! Are you two ready?” Nick asked.

Richie and Eddie both gasped in delight and Eddie squealed out. “Oh. My. Fucking. God!!!!”

Joe and Nick looked at each other and chuckled. Joe raised his hand, beginning to introduce himself. “What’s up guys, I’m—”

“You don’t have to introduce yourselves; we know who you are!!” Eddie squealed again.

Richie nodded his head dumbly. “Uh huh…”

All three brothers laughed, and Kevin clapped his hands. “Alright! Let’s get started.”

🎶🎶🎶🎶🎶

Richie and Eddie spent half the day rehearsing the song "Close" by Nick Jonas. Richie could practically feel the heat radiating off of Eddie from him blushing so hard when they started singing the lyrics.

They had a rocky start with Eddie with constantly stumbling over the lyrics, but with a little pep talk from Richie, he was ready to try again. Once Eddie got comfortable, him and Richie made the song their own. Joe, Nick, and Kevin had little to no criticisms and were thoroughly impressed with the pair.

“You two just have such an awesome chemistry…your voices just work perfectly together.” Nick commented once they started wrapping up for the day.

Richie smiled and said, “Thanks man! It was such an honor to work you!”

Him and Nick did a bro hug. “The honor is all mine man!” Nick clapped him on the back.

Richie did the same for Joe and Kevin and looked over at Eddie gushing all over Nick. “I just want to tell you that "Don’t Walk Away" was an absolute masterpiece! Such profound emotion conveyed through a song by someone who was only thirteen!! Fucking incredible!” Richie walked over and pulled Eddie away from Nick by his collar.

“See you guys later!” Richie called over his shoulder as Eddie screamed, “Wait no!! I wasn’t finished! It’s About Time was amazing as well!! All your albums were!!”

Eddie snatched away from him when they were outside the room. “Not cool Rich!”

Richie laughed. “No what wasn’t cool how was you were pretty much a rabid fan about to pounce on Nick.”

Eddie blushed and crossed his arms. “I...I was not!” Richie just laughed harder and proceeded to walk to the bus.

🎶🎶🎶🎶🎶

Once they reached the hotel, it was starting to get dark. “Hey Rich, I think we should practice the song a little bit more. Even though Nick said it sounded perfect to him, I still feel like I’m a bit pitchy during the chorus.” Eddie said.

Richie shrugged and inserted his key into the door. “Okay.”

They walked in and Eddie turned on the light and immediately went into the bathroom. Richie kicked off his shoes and flopped down on the bed, grabbing the remote to turn the TV on.

 _He’s gonna be in there for a while_ Richie thought as he switched through the channels. To Richie’s surprise, Eddie was only in the bathroom for five minutes.

“Hey that’s the shortest amount of time you’ve been in the bathroom…I’m impressed.” Richie exclaimed. 

Eddie rolled his eyes. “Shut up…you ready?”

Richie hopped off the bed. “Ready as I’ll ever be, Eddie Spaghetti.”

Eddie facepalmed and shook his head. “Rich…okay…you start us off.”

Richie began singing, being sure put a little more into his performance than he did earlier. Eddie noticed what he was doing and smiled. Richie felt butterflies in his stomach when Eddie started doing the same thing as he sung.

Richie didn’t know if it was the influence of the song lyrics or just a natural gravitational pull towards one another, but he quickly realized that they were a lot closer to each other than when they started.

They gave each other that familiar doting look as they sang, _Space was just a word made up by someone who’s afraid to get too…_

Richie eyes darted to Eddie’s lips when he licked them. Something primal suddenly washed over him and reached out grabbed Eddie’s face.

It seemed like everything going slow and fast at the same time as Richie closed his eyes and leaned down, gently pressing his lips to Eddie’s.

 _So soft…so warm…please kiss me back!_ Richie thought, his heart beating fast in hopes Eddie would respond. 

All of him was expecting Eddie to push him away again, but the opposite happened. Eddie pushed up on his tiptoes to deepen the kiss, and wrapped his arms around his neck, letting out a sigh through his nose that said " _Finally!"_

Richie moved his hands from his face to his waist and squeezed lightly. That seemed to get a positive response from Eddie. He gasped slightly, inviting Richie’s tongue inside.

Richie could tell Eddie was getting nervous, so he took control, moving one hand to gently grab the back of Eddie’s neck and positioning his head at a better angle so he could explore Eddie’s mouth more.

This kiss was far better than any girl Richie had kissed in the past...hell it was better than any boy Richie had kissed too...this kiss meant everything to him...he was in love.

Richie’s tongue brushed up against the roof of his mouth and Eddie let out a whimper that made Richie weak in the knees. He buckled a little and Eddie pulled back to laugh. “You okay there Rich?”

Richie nodded and kissed his lips one more time. “I’m fan-fucking-tastic…you?”

Eddie whimpered again when Richie rubbed his nose against his. “You want the truth?”

Richie opened his eyes and looked at him. “Always…”

Eddie blushed a bright red. “I’m horny.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *Eddie tells Richie he's horny*
> 
> Richie.exe has stopped working.


	13. Stray Lower, Where The Pleasant Fountains Lie

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The time has finally come...for Eddie to get laid. 
> 
> TW: Underage Consensual Sex

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay...so I quickly pumped out these last three chapters last night for you all because my schedule at work is about to get super crazy. I really hope you all enjoy and I will try and update ASAP! ❤

Richie didn't think he was capable of blushing so hard in his entire eighteen years of existence. “You’re horny?”

Eddie looked up at him through his lashes and nodded. “Yes Rich…”

Richie swallowed and chuckled nervously. “Oh wow ummm…I…uhhh”

Eddie smirked at him. “Wow…this is a totally different Richie than the sex crazed, constantly telling Ben that he’ll gladly suck him off Richie I’m used to…” Richie’s mouth worked to try and come up with a witty comeback, but his brain was offline at the moment.

“Richie…are you okay? Was I too forward?” Eddie asked, panic starting to show on his face.

Richie quickly shook his head. “No! No you weren’t too forward…I just need...ummm a minute to process...I uhhh…you want me to be your first?”

Eddie bit his lip and nodded. “Yes…”

Richie huffed a shaky laugh. “Okay…not trying to kill the mood here, but why?”

Eddie looked down and off to the side, a blush blooming over his face. “Because…I really like you Richie…like I really, really like you…these past few weeks have only shown me how much I like you…even when my mom tried to make me deny my feelings for you, I…I couldn’t bring myself to do it. I'm so sorry for how I acted towards you! It was just a...really crazy time for me...hell I was having fucking dreams about you Richie! There were some, where you told me you liked me back and some…well let’s just say if they use a blacklight in that room—”

Richie cut him off with a kiss and laughed. “No need for the details…well here’s the thing, Eds…” Richie panicked a little when he saw Eddie’s face fall a bit. “I really, really like you too…I honestly thought I made it more than obvious with all the flirting and constant pick-up lines, etc.”

“You flirted with Beverly and Ben also, so I just figured you were a natural flirt.” Eddie argued. 

Richie thought back on all his encounters with Ben and Beverly and nodded in agreement. “I can see how you got that vibe…” Eddie smiled and rolled his eyes as Richie continued. “But I’m letting you know straight up, even though I flirted with them, it was your affections I was hoping of winning.”

Eddie pulled him down into a sweet kiss and said against his lips, “Consider yourself a winner…”

Richie pulled Eddie close to him and began kissing him passionately. Eddie moved his hands to Richie’s unruly curls and pulled. Richie groaned loudly against Eddie’s lips and he felt a self-satisfied smirk grow on them. “Hair pulling huh?”

Richie barely had time to think of a comeback before Eddie pulled his hair again. “Shit Eds…you’re gonna be the death of me!”

Eddie giggled and tugged at his hair one last time. “Just making sure you’re all good and riled up…”

Richie looked at him intensely. “Oh trust…you didn’t need to pull my hair to do that…”

🎶🎶🎶🎶🎶

They pressed their lips together again, this time Richie walked them towards his bed. Eddie broke the kiss to lay down properly on it and as soon as he was settled, Richie was on him faster than you can say, ‘One-eyed Wonder Weasel’ (Ha!)

Richie kissed the corner of Eddie’s mouth and moved to suck and nibble on his earlobe, drawing more soft whimpers from him. “How do you want to do this baby?” Richie whispered in his ear before running his tongue over the shell of it. Eddie shivered and let out a louder moan when Richie kissed behind his ear.

“ _Uhhh_ …shit…can you...you know…” Eddie breathes out.

Richie pulled back to look at him. “No I don’t know babe…you gotta tell me what you want…” He moved back to leave a trail of wet kisses from behind Eddie’s ear to the top of his collarbone.

“Do the thing with your mouth…” Eddie gasped out when Richie gently bit down on it.

He smiled against his skin. “The mouth thing? You mean a blow job?”

Eddie nodded his head quickly. “Yes! Yes, that…please do that!”

Richie moved up to kiss him again and grinned. “Anything for you, my lovely spaghetti head…” Eddie tried to groan but it was quickly cut off by a moan when Richie moved down and mouthed at his half hard erection through his jeans.

“Holy…” Eddie gasped. His hand rapidly reaching out and tangling in Richie’s hair.

Richie was already loving the way Eddie’s dick felt through his jeans, he couldn’t wait to taste him on his tongue. Richie sat up and worked on getting Eddie’s pants down.

He began pulling them down, Eddie helping him by lifting his hips. Richie tossed them in the direction of the bathroom and hooked his index fingers under the waistband of Eddie’s boxers.

“Are you sure you want to do this?” Richie asked, making sure there wasn’t any last-minute mind changes.

Eddie almost growled. “Richard fucking Tozier, if you don’t go ahead and give me a blowjob, I will end you.”

Richie chuckled. “How exactly do you plan on doing that when you’re currently in a compromising position?”

Eddie sent him an glare. “I’ll find a way…trust me.”

Not wanting to antagonize Eddie any further, Richie pulled his boxers down and gasped at the sight before him. “Eddie…your dick…it’s so pretty…”

Eddie looked down at him. “I don’t know if I should be offended or aroused that you just called my dick pretty…”

Richie smiled at him. “Be honored baby…because trust I have seen—”

“Richie…I really don’t want a peek into your past sex life right now, please just…do your thing.” Eddie said, getting irritated.

Richie snorted and nodded. “Okay…I’ll do my thing.”

With that, Richie pulled his boxers all the way to his ankles and positioned himself over Eddie’s thighs, so he could have better leverage at keeping his hips from bucking up into his mouth.

Richie’s mouth began to water as he observed Eddie’s tip, red and already leaking.

 _It’s doing that because of me_ Richie thought proudly. Eddie hissed when Richie kissed his tip and started giving it kitten licks.

Richie took his time, giving Eddie’s cock all his attention, kissing the shaft, and licking the vein on the underside of it that made Eddie moan deep in his throat. “Fuck Rich…Richie…”

Hearing Eddie moan out his name, made his dick jump in his pants. He grinded down against Eddie’s leg, trying to find some relief. Richie reached up and grabbed Eddie's other hand. “I got you Eddie baby…”

Richie rubbed his lips against the tip before wrapping them around it. “Fucking— Christ!” Eddie groaned out. Richie made sure to move his lips over his teeth so that they wouldn’t accidently graze him.

Richie bobbed his head up and down, alternating between sucking hard and using his tongue. Eddie’s moan hit a new octave when Richie made his tip touch the back of his throat. “Richie…fuck Rich…I’m close…I’m so fucking close.”

Richie reached up and started fondling Eddie’s balls, moving his head faster. He felt Eddie’s thighs tense up as he called out Richie’s name. “ _Fuck Richie!_ ”

Hot jizz suddenly spurted into his mouth and down his throat. Richie swallowed it all and kept sucking, practically milking Eddie dry.

Eddie tried to pull from Richie's sinful mouth, becoming overstimulated. "Richie...stop..." he said weakly, tapping the side of Richie’s head to get him off of him.

Richie sucked one last time to make sure he was nice and clean. He pulled off and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. He moved up to lay besides Eddie and smiled. “Sooo?”

Eddie covered his eyes with his arm, inhaling and exhaling deeply. Richie giggled and moved Eddie’s arm from his eyes. Eddie had his eyes closed. “Eds? Did I kill you Eddie Spaghetti?”

“That’s not…my…fucking…name…” Eddie gasped out.

“Oh Eds after that performance I just gave…I deserve to call you every nickname I think of from now on…” Richie said, smirking. Eddie tried to glare at him, but only managed to pull off a tired looking grimace.

Richie laughed and propped up on his elbow. He booped Eddie on the nose. “Just speaking my truth babe.”

Eddie glanced down at the bulge in his pants and swallowed. “So can I—”

Richie shook his head. “You don’t have to. I’ll take care of it.”

Eddie frowned. His frown suddenly turned into a smirk as he said, “I know I don’t _have_ to…I want to…” 

Richie snorted at the usage of his previous words. “Using my own words against me? Touché Eds…touché…”

Eddie turned on his side and reached down to nervously unbutton Richie’s pants. His hand started shaking so bad that Richie gently replaced his hand with his own and unbuttoned his pants.

He rolled on his back and shimmied out of his jeans and boxers, tossing them on the floor. He turned back on his side and Eddie eyes went comically wide. “What the fuck, Richie…”

“What?” Richie looked down.

“How is it that supposed to fit in my mouth? How is that supposed to fit anywhere?” Eddie asked, genuinely concerned. 

Richie laughed. “How about this? You can just give me a hand job…”

Eddie looked at him confused. “Hand job?”

“Yeah, so all you do is,” Richie reached out and grabbed his hand, “wrap it around like this.” Richie moaned a little at the contact.

Eddie gasped. “Holy fuck…it’s so big…I’m gonna have to use two hands.”

Richie moaned louder when Eddie’s other hand joined the first. “That's fine...the more the merrier.”

“So pretty much I’m just doing what I do when I masturbate?” Eddie asked. 

The sudden image of Eddie tugging fiercely at his dick sent another shockwave of arousal down Richie's spine. “Fuck yes…exactly like that…”

Eddie nodded and removed his hands from his dick. “Sorry for how unsanitary this is going to be.” He licked his hands and placed them back on Richie.

“No need to apologize Eddie…you just made it feel ten times better!” Richie let out a loud whimper as his hips began to buck into Eddie’s hands. Eddie leaned in and kissed him, moving his hands faster to match Richie’s hips. “Uhhh…fuck…yes baby kiss me again.”

Eddie leaned in to kiss him again, this time fully making out with him. Richie moaned in his mouth, his hips moving faster and faster. “Eddie…baby I’m getting close…I’m about to cum…” Richie whined against his lips. Eddie took that opportunity to bite down gently on Richie’s bottom lip and that took Richie over the edge.

Richie closed his eyes as he saw stars, feeling electricity shoot through his veins, but the most important thing about all of that was that Eddie was the one making him feel that way.

🎶🎶🎶🎶🎶

He came with a gasp, coating Eddie’s hands and his shirt with his jizz. His hips bucked a few more times and he shuddered, rolling back on his back. “Eds…your hands…are fucking magical.”

Eddie smiled and got up off the bed, heading towards the bathroom. Richie was so drained that he felt like he was boneless. Eddie came back out the bathroom, turned the light off and climbed back in the bed next to Richie.

“Can we cuddle?” Eddie asked.

Richie turned to face him, and let out a choked sound when his hand bumped against Eddie's naked torso. “Are you aware that you are fully naked?”

Eddie nodded. “Mmm-hmm…”

“You really are trying to kill me… _god_ …” Richie quickly sat up and yanked his shirt off, tossing it on the floor too.

He took his glasses off, making sure they were safely on the bedside table before laid back down. He turned on his side and groped the sheets for Eddie. A fond smile flashed across Richie's face as he felt Eddie shifting closer to him. Richie enveloped Eddie in a tight, warm hug and sighed happily.

They kissed lazily until they both fell asleep in each other’s arms.


	14. The Hate You Give, Only Makes Me Stronger

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After sharing what had to be the most perfect night with Eddie, Richie and him wake up to a massive storm heading their way.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello guys, I want to start off by giving a HUGE trigger warning!  
> This chapter features homophobic slurs, very disturbing speech about the deceased, and mild violence. If you are sensitive to any of that please, skip to the sentence that begins with, "Richie could feel the anger..." 
> 
> I thank you all again for reading this, leaving kudos and comments. You all have been amazing motivators! ❤
> 
> Here we go!

**BANG! BANG! BANG!**

Richie groaned, turning on his side to get more comfortable. He jumped when he felt a warm body in front of him.

He opened his eyes slightly, sighing in relief when he realized Eddie was still in bed with him. He wrapped his arm around Eddie’s middle and pulled him close.

“Mmm…good morning Rich.” Eddie said softly.

Richie began peppering kisses all over his shoulder. “Good morning my lovely spaghetti head.” He smiled against Eddie’s shoulder when he let out a loud groan.

**BANG! BANG! BANG!**

They both sat up and looked at the door. “Did you have class today?” Richie asked.

Eddie shook his head. “No. It’s Saturday…” Richie reached over and turned the lamp on, grabbing his glasses in the process. He quickly put them on and pulled back the duvet. He got out the bed and slipped his jeans on, warily making his way over to the door.

He looked through the peephole. “Fuck! It’s your mom!!” Richie whispered loudly. Eddie’s face went pale as he began struggling to breathe.

“Shit!” Richie muttered, pushing away from the door and grabbing his inhaler off of the bedside table. “Here Eds…I need you to calm down.” Eddie took two puffs of his inhaler and gasped out.

**BANG! BANG! BANG!**

“Eddie!!!! I know you’re in there! I also know you haven’t been staying with Bill this entire time!! Open this door right now!!!!” Sonia yelled.

“Shit!! She’s gonna fucking kill me!!!” Eddie cried.

Richie put his hands on Eddie’s shoulders and looked him in the eyes. “She’s not gonna do anything to you…not while I’m here.”

Eddie smiled softly, but his eyes still had absolute fear in them. Richie grabbed his face, grounding him.

He pressed a soft kiss to his lips. “I got your back Eddie…always.”

Eddie smiled for real this time and kissed him again. “Thank you Richie…”

Sonia continued to bang on the door, yelling out, “EDDIE!!!”

Richie stood up and blew out some air. “Alright…let’s take this bitch down…” Richie marched up to the door and opened it.

“Tozier residence…”

Sonia sent him an icy glare; her chubby face as red as a cherry. “Where is my Eddie bear? What have you done to him—” she gasped when she looked down at Richie’s bare chest. “You wicked bastard! What have you done to my baby?!”

Richie leaned against the doorframe and crossed his arms, sending her an even icier glare. “Your baby? Your Eddie bear? You have no fucking right to call him that! Not after what you did…” Richie snarled.

Sonia narrowed her eyes at him. “What did he tell you? Whatever he told you, it’s a lie! My Eddie bear is always making up fake stories!”

Richie pushed off the doorframe and he began walking towards her, his teeth bared. “Fake?! Those fucking bruises on him were not fake, you sick bitch!”

Richie had backed Sonia into the wall, her wild eyes getting bigger the closer he got. She recoiled when he yelled.

“You’ve physically, mentally, emotionally, and verbally abused Eddie for years and now you think you can just bang on the door and expect him to come running back to you! You’re even dumber than I thought!”

Sonia’s face hardened and she straightened up, her aura shifting from intimidated to intimidating in mere seconds. “How _dare_ you speak to me like that?! Who do you think you are?! His _savior_?! Eddie is weak without me! He can’t do anything without me! He is _NOTHING_ without me! I have worked my fingers to the bone to make sure that ungrateful little shit has had a good life, and this is how he repays me?!!” Sonia screeched.

Richie shrunk under her sinister gaze. “He goes and gets fucked by some faggot whose mom probably died from some whore sickness!!!” Richie’s eyes widened in shock and tears immediately began streaming down his face.

His voice wobbled when he tried to speak. “How…How did you know—”

“Oh yes…Eddie told me she died, he tells me everything…it’s sad really…what would she think if she knew her son was just some sissy punk who went around defiling poor, innocent boys for his own perverted pleasure…she would be ashamed of you boy!” Sonia brought her hand up over her head. 

Richie flinched and dropped to the floor, closing his eyes. He heard a loud smack but didn’t feel anything. He opened his eyes to see Eddie in between them, his arm blocking Sonia’s hand.

He pushed her hand away and yelled, “That’s enough Ma!!”

Sonia looked at him surprised. “Oh! You’re sticking up for your little preverted boyfriend now, Eddie bear?”

Richie could feel the anger radiating off of Eddie. “I said…that’s fucking enough…” Eddie growled.

Sonia gasped. “Eddie! How dare you—”

Eddie sneered at her. “Fuck…you Ma! I’m done! I’m not doing this anymore!”

Sonia shook her head, flustered. “What? Eddie, wha— what are you talking about? Not doing what anymore?”

“This. I’m pulling out of the competition and I'm done with you!” Eddie yelled.

Richie stood up quickly and grabbed Eddie’s shoulders. “No! You can’t do that! What about--” Eddie silenced him with a kiss.

“Eddie!!” Sonia screamed, reaching out to grab him.

Eddie moved away from Richie and shoved Sonia hard. She fell backwards, a loud grunt escaping her as she fell and hit her head against the wall. “Eddie…why…why Eddie?” She cried.

Eddie ignored her, pushing Richie’s glasses up to wipe the tears from his face using his thumbs. “I’m sorry she said those things to you…I’m so sorry. I…I shouldn’t have told her about your mom, it wasn’t right of me—”

Richie pulled him into a tight hug. “It’s okay Eddie…you don’t have to apologize for your mom. It’s not your fault she’s a shitty person.” 

“You didn’t deserve any of that.” Eddie sobbed.

Richie rubbed his hair as he cried into his chest. “It’s fine Eds…like you said, I got thick skin…I’ll bounce back, but seriously Eddie…you can’t pull out of the competition,” Richie snorted at the double entendre, “Ha…get it?”

Eddie sniffled and sighed. “Of course…even after all that bullshit, you are still able to make a fucking joke.” He pulled back to smile at Richie tenderly.

“So you’re really gonna do it?” Richie asked, sadly. Eddie’s smile fell and he nodded. Fresh tears streamed down Richie’s face. “Okay…I understand.” Eddie pushed up on his toes to give him a kiss.

Richie moaned as Eddie ran his fingers through his hair, his fingernails lightly scratching his scalp. Richie pulled him closer to him, deepening the kiss. Eddie sucked on his bottom lip and pulled back, gasping.

He rested his forehead against Richie’s collarbone. “I’ll keep in touch…” he whispered. He kissed his collarbone and pulled away. Richie sobbed softly as Eddie backed away from him, a sad smile on his face.

“Eddie…help me up…please Eddie…” Sonia moaned, reaching out to grab Eddie’s foot.

Eddie jerked away from her and waved at Richie. Richie waved back and brought his fingers up to his lips. He kissed them and put them in the air. His heart swelled up with joy when Eddie did the same.

🎶🎶🎶🎶🎶

**_Later that day…_ **

“What? He quit?” Nick asked, disappointment in his voice.

Richie nodded sadly. “Yeah…he ummm had a lot of personal shit going on, so…he said he wouldn’t be able to continue.”

Nick looked down and shook his head. “Damn…well that means by default you advance to ‘The Knockouts’…”

Richie smiled weakly. “Yay.”

Nick chuckled and patted him on the back. “Yeah…yay.” He stood up and started walking towards the exit. “Tomorrow we’ll begin practicing the song of your choosing. Be sure to choose wisely.”

Nick winked and walked out the door. Richie ran his fingers through his hair and sighed heavily. “I will.”

🎶🎶🎶🎶🎶

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sending you all love and positive vibes after this chapter! ❤✨❤✨❤✨❤


	15. The Song From The Pages Of My Heart

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's been a week since Richie has heard from Eddie...as much as he wants to sit around and mope about it, he can't. He has 'The Knockouts' to win.

“Holy shit! What?!” Stan exclaimed, almost choking on his water.

“Yeah…Eddie stood up to her. You should’ve seen him Stan! He was absolutely breathtaking.” Richie said, a lovesick grin on his face. 

Stan stuck his finger in his mouth and fake gagged. “Ugh! You’re even more insufferable when you’re in love…”

“Shut up! You think it’s cute.” Richie said, laughing.

Stan rolled his eyes, a small smile playing on his lips. “It is pretty cute.” Stan admitted.

Richie put his hand over his mouth and gasped. “I fucking knew it!”

Stan stared blankly at him as he began doing his victory dance. “Don’t get too happy from that, I still think you’re annoying…”

“But you also think I’m cute, so I don’t care that you find me annoying…” Richie said, in a singsong voice.

He grinned proudly as Stan facepalmed. “So what is Eddie up to now? Has he found anywhere to stay?”

Richie stopped dancing, a sullen expression spreading across his face. “Well…I don’t know. The last time I heard from him was the day he quit the show. I’ve texted him, but he never answered.”

Stan gave him a sympathetic look. “Oh…well Richie…it’s only been a week, maybe he just needs a little more time to settle down…wherever he’s at…”

Richie laughed bitterly. “He needs more time huh? I think a week is enough time for him to do what he has to do Stan! I’m…what if something happened to him? Like…what if he got abducted or a car hit him, or—”

“You’re sounding real ‘Sonia-like’ right now.” Stan said, his eyebrow raised.

Richie moaned as he fell back on the bed, his phone dropping next to his head. “Fuck…you’re right! He’s probably fine! He’s a tough kid, he can handle himself.”

“Right, no need to stress yourself out. Give him some more time.” Stan reassured. 

Richie let out a long exhale. “Yeah…I’ll give him all the time he needs. Is it bad that I have been sending him songs that remind me of him?”

Stan chuckled. “I mean it’s not bad…a bit creepy considering that he’s not answering you back, but yeah it’s not bad.”

Richie stared up at the ceiling. “You just told me not to stress myself out, but then proceed to imply that I possibly scared Eddie off, by doing something I thought was a sweet gesture and you know what I’m doing now…stressing the fuck out!”

Stan groaned. “Richie stop! I was just fucking with you!”

“You really know how to pick the perfect time to fuck with someone.” Richie snapped.

Stan chuckled again. “Okay…sorry, I’m sorry…that was an asshole move. What song did you send him today?”

Richie smiled to himself. “This song called "Eddie My Love"…”

Stan was silent for a moment. Richie picked his phone up to see Stan pulling a face. “That’s weirdly specific, don’tcha think?”

Richie laughed softly. “That’s why I chose it…listen to it when you get the chance. You’ll definitely understand after you listen to it.”

Richie looked away from the screen when he heard a knock on the door. Ben’s smooth voice came from the other side of it. “Richie…it’s Ben, Bev and Bill.”

Richie looked back at Stan. “Hey man, I’ll call you later. The three Bs are at my door.”

Stan laughed and nodded. “Okay, talk to you later.” Richie hung up and tossed his phone on his bed.

He walked over and opened the door, instantly smiling when he saw Beverly’s pretty face beaming at him. “Hey Beanstalk! We’re just checking in on you.” Beverly pulled him into a warm hug.

He immediately melted into it, nuzzling his nose into her neck. He breathed in her sweet perfume and sighed. “Thanks guys. I appreciate you all.”

Ben smiled and clapped him on the shoulder. “Can we come in or are we just gonna stay out in the hall and talk?”

Richie laughed and moved back, allowing them into the room. For the rest of the night, they played games and talked.

Beverly asked about Eddie once and when she saw the look on Richie’s face, she quickly dropped the subject. Richie smiled wearily at her, internally grateful she let it go.

🎶🎶🎶🎶🎶

 _This feels like déjà vu_ Richie thought as he bounced his leg and chewed on his bottom lip. He looked over at the other chair on the stage, barely making out the shape of his opponent. He finally recognized who his opponent was.

 _Claudia…I’m glad she was able to make it this far_ Richie thought as she got up and walked to the middle of the stage.

A spotlight suddenly shined down on him and the melody for "One More Try" by Jessie J began playing. She brought the mic up to her mouth and started singing. Richie gasped, absolutely shocked by her voice.

More lights came on and the crowd began cheering. Richie smiled and started nodding his head to the music. Richie’s let out a low whistle when she belted out the last note of the song. Claudia smiled, bowing as the audience cheered her on.

She smiled at Richie and mouthed, “Good luck.” Richie returned the smile and stood up. He walked to the middle of the stage and exhaled.

He heard someone yell “Whoo Richie!” and laughed a bit when he recognized the voice as Stan’s. He brought the mic up to his mouth and began singing.

_Yes…I do, I believe, that one day I will be, where I was, right there, right next to you, and it’s hard, the days just seem so dark, the moon, and the stars are nothing without you_

_Your touch, your skin, where do I begin? No words can explain the way I’m missing you, deny this emptiness, this hole I’m inside, these tears, they tell their own story_

A wave of emotion washed over Richie as tears slowly began to stream down his face. He closed his eyes and pictured Eddie’s smile, his eyes, the cute way he would blush and wrinkle his nose whenever Richie would say something inappropriate to him. Richie blocked out where he was and imagined he was singing to Eddie.

_Can I lay by your side, next to you, you? And make sure you’re all right, I’ll take care of you, I don’t want to be here if I can’t be with you tonight_

Eddie smiled at him, reaching up to his face. Richie yearned for that touch to be real. He yearned to be with Eddie. He opened his eyes and crooned out, _Can I lay by your side, next to you, you?,_ ending in a high note.

The four judges stood up, giving him a standing ovation. The audience began chanting his name, “Richie! Richie! Richie!” Richie smiled and sniffled, wiping the tears from his face.

Claudia walked up and stood next to him, grabbing his hand. She beamed at him and whispered, “You did amazing!”

“So did you!” Richie whispered back.

Blake started speaking. “Oh my goodness…wow…we got such a close neck and neck competition here because you did Claudia, was really showcase what your voice could do and Richie…one thing I must say is that I really hate that you are not on my team…you completely blew my mind tonight and if I was Nick, I would choose Richie.”

“Thank you Blake.” Richie said, bowing.

John was next to speak. “Claudia…your voice never ceases to amaze me. Every time you perform I have to ask them, “Did she really just do that? Don’t I?” John gestured to the others and they all laughed and nodded.

“Yeah I think he asked me three times how you were able to pull off that A5…” Kelly said, laughing.

John looked at Richie. “Richie…Richie, Richie, Richie, Richie…” The audience cheered again. “I’ve seen some emotional performances, but there was something very powerful about yours, more real. I love that you chose that song because one…I’m featured on it,” he laughed, “and two…I feel that you personally connected with it and honestly it was perfect match for you. Great job!”

Kelly covered her mouth and squealed. “I loved both of your performances! Claudia with your beautiful soft tones and elegant runs and Richie with your amazing voice control and a range that is out of this world! Nick…I don’t know how you’re going to choose tonight.” Kelly looked at Nick and shook her head.

Nick chuckled. “I don’t know how I’m going to choose tonight either. Both of you were wonderful to work with. Claudia…I just want to say how impressed I am with how strong your voice these past two performances. Like I told you at ‘The Blinds’, I turned around for you because I heard potential in your voice, and you have clearly shown me that potential tonight.” Claudia bowed as the audience cheered.

Nick looked at Richie and smiled. “Richie…man. One word. Phenomenal. Wait two words. Absolutely phenomenal.”

Richie laughed and bowed. “Thank you Nick…”

Nick held up his finger. “Wait, I’m not done. I’m going to piggyback off of John here and say yes your performance was so compelling. The emotion you showed on that stage tonight was just…out of this world. You two have really made it hard for me to choose tonight!”

Carson Daly walked up between the two and said, “Alright Nick, who’s the winner of this knockout?”

🎶🎶🎶🎶🎶

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oof...another cliffhanger...sorry 😅


	16. Words of Wisdom

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ben decides to sit down and talk to Richie after he tells him he's thinking of giving up. He also gets a suggestion from Nick to change up his style.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello there good people, hope all is well with you! Everything is great over here! I passed all my classes, my work schedule has lightened up and I got to celebrate my bday surrounded by positive people. I'm a quarter century old which means I'm just about ancient 😂
> 
> On to the story! 😊

“Richie Tozier!”

Richie’s eyes shot open when he heard Nick call his name.

_Holy shit!_

Claudia walked up to him and pulled him into a warm hug. “You deserve this! I’m so happy for you!” She said in his ear.

Richie wiped the tears from his eyes and sniffled. “Thank you so much! You were amazing! Keep singing girl!” Claudia laughed and let him go.

She walked off stage and hugged all the judges. Carson Daly spoke up again. “Alright Richie! This means you get to move on to ‘The Playoffs’, how do you feel?”

Richie smiled and leaned down to talk. “Ummm…I’m still in shock that I won. It probably won’t hit me until I get back to my room.” Carson chuckled and patted Richie on the back.

🎶🎶🎶🎶🎶

It was dark outside once everything was done and wrapped up and Richie decided to head to Beverly and Ben’s room. “Come in!” Beverly yelled out once Richie knocked. When he stepped in, he saw Beverly on the phone facetiming her daughter.

“Hey! It’s mini red!” Richie exclaimed, flopping on the bed. He was met with a high-pitched giggle.

“Hi Uncle Stretch!”

“Uncle Stretch? Ah Bev! You’ve gone and corrupted my sweet, innocent Gabi!” Gabriella giggled again. Richie was amazed at how much Gabriella looked like her mother. Same long fiery, red hair, pale porcelain skin and gray-green eyes. She literally was a miniature version of Beverly. 

Bev smiled and blow a kiss towards the phone. “Go give mama Arlene the phone, honey.”

Gabriella got up and ran through the house, finally locating Ben’s mom. “Grandma! Mommy wants to talk to you!”

She handed off the phone. “Thank you my sweet baby! Hi Bev, I saw the performance last week and I gotta say…I was blown away!”

Beverly smiled. “Thanks mama Arlene! I just wanted to ask how Gabi was doing in school?”

Richie got up and let the two women talk, sitting next to Ben. Ben looked up from his phone and smiled at him. “Hey man, how are you holding up?”

Richie shrugged. "I've been--" He looked down and sighed. "It’s been two almost three weeks…I feel like I should just give up at this point.”

Ben put a firm hand on his shoulder. “Come on, let’s go outside and talk…don’t want to disturb the ladies’ conversation.” Richie nodded and got up, following him towards the door.

“Hey babe…we’ll be right back.” Ben called over his shoulder. “Come on they have this really cool alcove in the back here.” Ben said excitedly.

Richie followed him down the hall and out the side exit, where there was a little outside lounging area with a small recessed arched opening. There was an elegant chandelier hanging in the alcove that lit up most of the area.

Ben touched the stone pillars and smiled. “Isn’t amazing how something that seems so simple and fragile, can be the foundation for something so enormous.” He gestured to the rest of the hotel.

Richie raised an eyebrow at him. “Ummm…I guess…did we come out here just so you could nerd out over the architecture of the hotel?” Ben laughed and sat down on the bench in the alcove.

He patted the space besides him. “No, I didn’t bring you out here for that. Come. Sit.” Richie put his hands in his jacket pocket and sat next to Ben.

He looked over to see Ben take a blunt out of his shirt pocket and put it in his mouth to spark it up. “Now you’re speaking my language Benjamin…come on pass it.”

Ben took another hit and passed it Richie. “I actually brought you out here to talk about Eddie…” Richie just looked forward, taking a long drag from the blunt.

Ben continued to talk. “I was in the same predicament you were actually…well not necessarily the same situation, but I’ve dealt with not hearing from or knowing what happened to the love of my life before too. The only difference is…I proposed to her and she ran away.”

Richie swallowed some of the smoke and began coughing. “Hol—” he coughed again, hitting his chest. “What the fuck? Beverly ran away when you proposed to her?”

Ben took the blunt from him and nodded. “Yeah, but see I don’t blame her for it because she had just got out a really, really bad situation with that bitch of an ex-husband of hers and she had her baby girl…it was so much pressure on her and then I had to go and add more to it by proposing to her, so yeah she ran away.”

Ben took another hit and passed it back to Richie. “I didn’t hear from her for three months, I called her, I called her aunt’s place, her best friend, Kay…and nothing.”

Ben looked down at his hands. “I know this might sound crazy, but I couldn’t just give up on her. It was like something was telling me that she was it…she’s the one I’m supposed to be with…so I stopped calling and I was patient…a month later, I get a knock at my door and there she is. Standing there, looking as gorgeous as ever. She had packed all her and Gabi’s things up and moved in with me.”

Richie put his foot up on the bench and passed the blunt back to Ben. “So what happened between her and ex-husband?” Ben winced and blew out some smoke. “He was beating on her and Gabi. He’s a real fucking coward if you ask me.”

Richie nodded as Ben kept talking. “One night…things got really bad…I mean really bad and he ended up threatening to kill Gabi…so Bev did what she had to do…she shot him in the dick…”

Richie’s eyes almost bulged out of his head. “What?” Ben passed the blunt to Richie. “Yep…right in the dick.”

“Fucking hell…” Richie said, taking another drag from the blunt.

They sat there in silence for a moment until Ben spoke up again. “All of that aside…I’m telling you that you shouldn’t give up. From the way you described Eddie standing up to his mom for you, I can honestly say he cares about you just as much as you care about him…you just got to give it time.”

Richie stubbed out the blunt and sighed. “So should I stop sending him songs that remind me of him?”

Ben laughed. “Awww that’s cute, how often do you do it?”

Richie blushed. “Everyday…”

Ben let out a low whistle. “Well try to cut it back to every two weeks or every month…”

Richie groaned and rubbed his face, making his glasses crooked. “Ugh! That’s gonna be so hard…every song love I hear reminds me of him!”

Ben stood up and dusted himself off. “How about you make a playlist for him? Like every song you hear just add to the playlist and do not send it to him until he reaches out to you…”

Richie fixed his glasses and rubbed his chin. “That’s not a bad idea…okay I can do that.”

Richie stood up and Ben clapped him on the back. “Let’s get back before Bev starts freaking out.”

Richie snorted. “You’re right, she doesn’t need to find out about our secret trysts just yet…”

Ben pushed him and laughed. “Beep Beep Richie…”

🎶🎶🎶🎶🎶

**_The Next Day…_ **

Richie met up with Nick to discuss his next performance. “So what’s the next song you’re planning on singing?” Richie pulled up his Spotify and began playing the song for him.

Richie frowned a bit when he saw Nick making a face. “What?”

Nick sighed. “So I’m starting to notice a theme here…”

Richie’s heart began thudding his chest. “A-A theme?”

Nick nodded. “Yeah…all these slow, melancholy songs…I mean don’t get me wrong, they showcase your voice wonderfully, but aren’t you getting kind of tired of being sad?”

Richie paused the song. “Well…I really don’t have a choice but to be sad…especially because—” he looked down. “Nevermind.”

Nick put his hand on Richie’s shoulder. “Hey man…you can talk to me. There’s no cameras, no sound people…just us…” Richie looked around to make sure that there were actually nobody but them in the studio.

He sighed heavily before speaking. “You remember Eddie right?” Nick nodded and crossed his arms.

Richie swallowed. “Well…let’s just say…things kinda got heated between us…and his mom found out and—”

“Ohhh…so that was the personal shit?” Nick cut him off.

Richie nodded and began picking at a string on his shirt. “I honestly feel that if we hadn’t of done anything…he would still be here, and I just miss him so much…” his sentence was cut off by a sob.

“Hey…hey man…it’s not your fault…” Nick said, getting up to wrap his arms around Richie.

Richie leaned into his touch. “It-It is…m-my fault…because Ed-Ed-Ed—”

Nick shushed him. “Just cry man…you gotta let it all out.”

Richie did just that, taking off his glasses and sobbing harder. He heard the door open and Nick felt wave his arm. “Give us twenty man…”

“Okay…” a man’s voice said.

Richie sniffled and wiped his face, pulling away from Nick. “We don’t need twenty…I’m okay…”

Nick looked at him. “No…no you’re not okay. Let me ask you this…what would Eddie say if he saw you like this right now?”

Richie smiled slightly. “He would tell me to get my lanky ass up, stop crying and win this competition…and then he’ll proceed to tell me to stop calling him Eds, but we all know I’m not…”

Nick chuckled and sat back down. “Alright! So I want you to take that and use it in your next performance! Also, choose a different song…something more you…”

Richie watched him as he got up and made his way to the door to let the camera in. “More me? What do you mean by that?”

Nick looked back at him. “Something more high-energy…fun if you will…” Richie nodded as Nick went to get the camera crew.

He looked down at his phone. “I have the perfect song then.”


	17. Oh, Eddie Baby...

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Richie picks the perfect song to perform, now all he can hope is that it reaches the person he loves most.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [This freaking amazing song! ❤](https://open.spotify.com/track/7j31814v0fBvE0mOkUYnhA?si=AGU5rG49TPSMAFXwEpMHVw)

“Here I brought your guitar just like you asked and some clothes.” Stan said, handing Richie his red electric guitar and another bag full of clothes.

Richie gladly accepted the items. “Thanks man. Come on, you and Mike can meet Ben and Beverly.”

Stan and Mike stepped in the room, Mike had a case of beers and a brown bag in his hand. Richie set his guitar and the bag down, and reached over to take the bag from Mike.

He opened it, saw the bottle of liquor and shot glasses. He grinned widely. “Tequila? Fuck yeah!”

“Gotta celebrate your win, right?” Mike exclaimed, setting the beers down. Stan waved at Ben and Beverly. “Hello. I’m Stan. I’m the one who had to deal with Richie during childhood.”

Richie ruffled his hair, speaking in a moderately decent Irish accent. “Aww Stan you know you loved me since I was just a wee lass…”

Stan pushed his hand off and rolled his eyes. “Lass means young woman…”

Richie shrugged. “What’s your point?”

Stan moved past him and touched Mike’s shoulder. “Oh my god…you’re an idiot…this is Mike, my boyfriend.”

Mike waved and smiled. “Hi, it’s really nice to finally to meet you two.”

Beverly stood and made her way over to them. “It’s nice to meet you too as well, hope you don’t mind…I’m a hugger.” She wrapped her arms around Stan, who frowned a bit at first, but finally gave in and hugged her back.

She pulled back and went to hug Mike, who quickly wrapped her up in a warm hug. “Oooo Mike, you’re a wonderful hug giver.” Beverly giggled, rocking them side to side.

“Alright Bev…that’s enough…get off Stan’s man.” Ben admonished playfully. Stan looked at her and narrowed his eyes. Beverly pulled back and fixed her hair.

“Sorry…I just got so caught up in…” She gestured to Mike’s chest.

Stan stepped in between them and crossed his arms. “Yes…his chest is quite nice…but it’s currently occupied right now…”

They locked eyes with each other, tension quickly building between. Ben pulled Beverly back and held out his hand. “Hi. I’m Ben…”

Stan took Ben’s hand and shook it. “My my Ben…you have a really good and firm handshake…must mean you know what to do with your hands…”

Stan smirked at Beverly who in turn narrowed her eyes at him. “Touché…” She said as she pulled Ben’s hand away from him.

Richie looked at all of them as he thought nervously, _Was not expecting this to happen._

Everything went smoothly after that, Stan and Beverly turned their hosility towards each other into a friendly competition, seeing who could flirt more causally than the other. Mike, Ben and Richie just sat there all shaking their heads.

“So what happened to Bill?” Stan asked, taking a sip from Mike’s beer.

Richie knocked back another shot and wiped his mouth with his sleeve. “He didn’t win ‘The Knockouts’. Got knocked out by the chick named Alyssa…”

“Dang…” Mike said, going to take another sip from his beer, but was blocked by Stan's hand as he grabbed the beer.

It was 11:00PM when Stan drunkenly stood up and announced, “Time for us to go!”

Richie shook his head and whined, “No…you and Mike are too drunk, you’ll have to stay here tonight!”

Stan frowned. “I’m not sleeping in the same bed as you.”

Richie crawled over to him and wrapped himself around Stan’s leg. “Why not? We used to do it when I first moved in…come on it’ll be just like old times…”

Stan tried shake Richie off his leg, but to no avail. “You have no regards for my personal space Richie…you’re like an octopus when you sleep.”

Richie shrieked with laughter when Stan reached down and tried to pry him off his leg. “I just like to share body heat, Stanny! Give me your body heat!”

Stan finally got Richie off his leg and walked over to Mike, who was dead asleep on Richie’s bed. “Mike…babe…let’s go home…” Mike’s snore answered him. “Fuck…okay…we have no choice but to stay…I’m not carrying him back to the car.” Stan said, taking off Mike’s shoes.

Richie drunkenly cheered and crawled on the bed. He patted the space in between him and Mike. “You can sleep here…that way you can cuddle with Mike, and I can cuddle with you.”

Stan took his shoes off and place them neatly in the corner. “If you touch me tonight…I will kill you.”

🎶🎶🎶🎶🎶

**_The Next Morning…_ **

Richie woke up with pressed up against Stan’s back, his leg thrown over his hip, his foot resting on Mike’s leg and a dull ache from his bladder.

He slithered his way off of Stan and made his way over to the bathroom. As he was relieving himself, he heard Stan call out, “Richie…you got any Ibuprofen and water?”

“No Stan…unfortunately I don’t.”

Stan groaned. “I fucking hate my life!”

Richie laughed and went to wash his hands. “You two can stay here while go rehearse my song for tonight.”

Stan rubbed his temples. “Okay, we’ll leave around 12:30PM, so we can go back to the apartment and sober up some more for your performance tonight.

Richie nodded and went back into the bathroom, jumping in the shower to start getting ready for the day.

**_Later that afternoon…_ **

He met up with Nick again to practice his song. “This song is absolutely perfect for you! It’s fun, it’s high-energy and I feel it will convey the message you’re trying to send to him.”

Richie grinned. "I hope so Nick..."

Nick held his hand out and Richie took it, giving him a firm handshake. “Can’t wait for you to blow everyone’s mind tonight.”

“Thanks man!” Richie said, a full fledged smile breaking out on his face.

“Alright everybody! Let’s run through it one more time!” Nick yelled.

After rehearsal's Richie rushed back to his room to find Stan and Mike gone and his bed pristinely made up.

_Thanks so much Stan the Man!_

He went to the bag Stan brought him and dug out an outfit for him to wear later on that night.

He sat down on his bed and breathed out. “Okay…Eddie…wherever you are. I really hope you’re watching tonight…” He got up, shooting a quick text to Stan to let him know what time to be there at Stage 12 and went to get ready. 

🎶🎶🎶🎶🎶

“Hey...hey Richie! Here…” Stan whispered, rushing up to him. He turned around and Stan grabbed his hand, pushing a small object into it.

He opened it and gasped. “It’s...is this—”

“Yeah…the guitar pick your mother gave you for tenth birthday.” Stan smiled.

Richie felt his eyes welling up. “I thought I lost it, where did you…”

Mike walked up. “Well I found it in the kitchen behind the refrigerator.”

Richie looked at him, raising his eyebrows in suspicion. “Why were you looking behind the refrigerator?”

“Oh because a toy—”

Stan slapped a hand over Mike’s mouth, blushing furiously. “That doesn’t matter! What matters is that Mike found it and now you have it! Now you sing your fucking heart out Richie!” Stan cheered and pushed Richie towards the stage.

He walked out and plugged his guitar up to the amp that was provided for him. He turned around and nodded to the other members on stage.

The piano player started off, playing the beginning melody for, ‘Eddie Baby’. The audience went wild when the lights came on as Richie and the other members began playing their instruments. Richie walked up to the mic and started singing.

_The cameras captured all of the glances, and all of the chances we missed, we raged and we spun, for all of the dancers, the song as it lasted was bliss_

_But now the years have eaten, the songs we believed in, and nothing is left, but the sound of six billion people ignoring the magic we found,_

_Oh, I hear your voice. It calls me like the night, it’s singing in each syllable I write…_

The audience screamed louder as the song went on. Richie closed his eyes and sung with all his heart, like he was trying to telepathically send this message to Eddie himself.

_Oh Eddie Baby, won’t you come to arms tonight? I beg and plead you, please succumb to my charms tonight, I give my heart, but you take it and you break it and you tear it apart, Oh Eddie, baby, won’t you come to my arms_

A smile flashed across Richie’s face when he saw all four judges standing up and dancing. The part came for him to do the guitar solo. Richie put his all into it.

Wowing the judges as he fell to his knees, shaking his hair and strumming his fingers expertly over the guitars’ strings. He stood back up to finish off the song, pulling off a gorgeous run at the end.

The song finished and the audience cheered and hollered. Richie bowed and blew a kiss to the crowd.

Carson Daly walked up on stage and began talking. “Wow…absolutely amazing! Alright let’s go your coach Nick and hear his thoughts, Nick.” Nick just sat there with his hands on his face.

The crowd cheered as Richie laughed. Nick shook his head and sat up. “Now I was there when you rehearsed this song…and that solo you did in there was nothing compared to what you just pulled out of your pocket tonight, I am officially blown away…you did an incredible job and I am so proud to have you on my team and you definitely conveyed a very special message to a very special person tonight!”

“Thank you Nick!” Richie beamed.

Carson Daly turned to the cameras. “Alright! Nice work Richie and if you want Richie Tozier in the top nine you can vote on NBC. Com and ‘The Voice’ official app. We appreciate you so much Richie, and when we come back Team Kelly comes through with Alyssa will be singing for a spot in the Top nine. ‘The Voice’ will back after the commercial break.” Richie thanked Carson and stepped off the stage.

“Richie! You fucking killed it!!” Stan cheered, hugging tightly. Mike joined in and Richie laughed.

“Thanks guys!”

Mike thrusted his fist in the air. “Let’s go celebrate!” Richie, Mike, and Stan rounded up Ben and Beverly and they went out to the local bar (even though they weren’t supposed to) and got thoroughly trashed in Richie’s honor.


	18. It Is HIM I Love

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After almost a month of not hearing from him, a video suddenly appears...addressed to Richie...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sad 😭😭 because I have two more chapters to write before all of this is over. I really enjoyed writing this for you all ❤  
> 

They were in Richie’s room when the results were shown live. Richie had Stan and Mike on facetime and Ben and Beverly had Bill on facetime so they all could be there when the results came in.

“You made it to the Top nine!! I’m fucking proud of you!” Beverly squealed, knocking Richie over and kissing him all over his face.

“Ugh! God mom! Get off of me!” Richie laughed, pushing her off of him. They find out that night too that Ben and Beverly made it to the Top nine as well.

“We’re fucking killing it!” Beverly cheered, trying her best to do the running man. Richie and Ben laughed until their stomachs hurt.

🎶🎶🎶🎶🎶

When preparing for the next round of ‘Live Performances’ Richie continued to take Nick’s advice.

The next song he chose was just as upbeat and fun as the last, but unfortunately this time it didn’t make as much as an impact with the people as his first song did.

He wasn’t upset when he saw he didn’t make it to the ‘Top six’. Beverly hugged him. “I’m so sorry Richie…”

He grabbed her arm and squeezed it. “It’s whatever Red…I had a good run.”

She laughed sadly and sniffled. “Yeah…yeah you did.”

He felt his phone vibrating and pulled it out of his pocket. “Hold on guys, it’s Stan.” Beverly let him go so he could get up. “Hey Stan. What’s—”

“Shut up and don't say anything until I’m done talking.” Stan interrupted him.

“Rude…” Richie muttered.

“Okay, so I was on YouTube watching my favorite YouTuber of all time, Marlene Mc’Cohen and her beautiful birds when I accidentally clicked on the trending icon and saw that your performance of ‘Eddie Baby’ had gone viral, so I clicked on it to watch that incredible performance again and then I saw another video being recommended to me named, “For Richie Tozier” and I clicked on that one and you know what…I’m just going to send it to you…bye.” Stan hung up, leaving Richie confused.

Beverly saw the look on his face and walked over to him. “You okay?”

“Stan just called me to tell me that he saw a video addressed to me—” Richie paused mid-sentence when his phone vibrated again, this time a message from Stan.

He opened it and saw a link to a YouTube video. “This is video he was talking about.” They both sat down on the bed and Richie clicked on it.

Beverly gasped as the video began playing. “It’s Eddie…”

In the video, Eddie was sitting on the barstool with a mic in front of him and piano behind him. Richie gasped, eyes welling up with tears as he watched those big brown eyes look at the camera. Eddie ran his hands through his curly brown hair, and tousled it a bit.

It looked damp like he had just got out of the shower. Richie chuckled at what he was wearing.

A faded blue shirt with the marvel comics logo on it, red shorts with a rainbow flag on the side of them, and long white tube socks that stopped midway up his calf. 

Richie’s could feel his face heat up as his eyes raked over Eddie’s tanned and toned thighs. He shook his head, reminding himself that this was not the right time to pop a boner, since Beverly was right there besides him. 

He sniffled and smiled. "He's okay...thank God! He's okay..." He was brought back to reality when Eddie began speaking. “Hello everyone. As you all would know, my name is Edward Kaspbrak or as most people call me Eddie, and I was a contestant on ‘The Voice’. Now a lot of you maybe be asking the question what happened to me after ‘The Blinds’ and I’m here with your answer…I fell in love.”

Richie’s heart soared and he paused the video. “Did you hear that Beverly…did you—he said he fell in love.”

Beverly nodded. “Let’s listen to the rest of it.” Beverly said, pressing play.

“Yeah you heard me correctly, I fell in love with someone who made me realize that I didn’t need to hide anymore or continue to do what others told me to do, that person made me realize that I needed to make decisions that benefited me, so I quit the show. Now don't get me wrong…I love to sing. It’s my passion, but I didn’t go on ‘The Voice’ because I wanted to…I was forced to…by my mother.”

Richie and Beverly looked at each other. “At first it seemed fun, and I did enjoy myself, but then as the weeks went on…things weren’t so fun anymore. I just…wasn’t into it anymore and after the ‘The Blinds’ things ended up going downhill and I just decided I had had enough.”

A guy with curly blonde hair entered from Eddie’s right and sat down at the piano. Richie frowned. “Who the fuck is that?” he asked, almost snatching the phone from Beverly.

"Chill Richie..." Beverly hissed.

Richie glared at the screen and Beverly pressed play again. “So if you haven’t guessed already the person I’m talking about is the one and only Richie Tozier. The one who did a phenomenal job last week and I just want to say…the message was conveyed.”

Richie blushed as Eddie winked at the camera. “So I have my good buddy Connor here to play the piano because I’m shit at instruments.”

Him and Connor laughed. “So this song is for Richie Tozier…please like and share this video so that it gets to him.” Connor began playing the piano and Eddie opened his mouth to sing.

_Holy Father, we need to talk, I have a secret that I can’t keep, I’m not the boy that you thought you wanted, please don’t get angry, have faith in me_

Tears flowed down Richie’s face as Eddie sung chorus, a warm feeling blooming in his chest as Eddie’s angelic voice wafted into his ears.

_Say I shouldn’t be here but I can’t give up his touch, It is him I love, It is him, Don’t you try and tell me that God doesn’t care for us, It is him I love, it is him I love_

Beverly and him both sniffled, their tears hitting the screen as Eddie belted out his feelings for Richie. Eddie ended the song and looked at the camera. “I love you Richie Tozier.” He blew a kiss at the camera and the video ended there.

Richie covered his mouth with his hand, trying to conceal a sob and Beverly reached out to hug him, sobbing loudly. Ben walked in with bags of food in his hands and looked at the scene before him. “Did I miss something?”

🎶🎶🎶🎶🎶

Back in his room, Richie could hardly sleep; he was too busy watching Eddie’s video to him over and over and over again. “I love you too Eddie…”

He wanted to comment on that on the video but couldn’t bring himself to do it. He packed up his stuff (while still listening to the video) and went to go check out. The same lady who checked him in was standing there.

Her eyes lit up when she saw him. “Well…I owe you an apology…you have a beautiful voice.”

Richie smiled a bit. “Thanks.”

She took his card and smiled. “You’re very welcome…I hope you enjoyed your stay.”

Richie nodded. “Yeah…yeah I did enjoy it and you’re forgiven.”

She waved at him as he walked away. “Have a good day.”

Richie tossed a peace sign over his shoulder and walked to his car. He tossed his bags in the backseat and climbed in.

He took his phone out and turned on Eddie’s video…listening to it all the way home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [this song makes me cry! 😭😭](https://open.spotify.com/track/0TdKJnJqeONlGZpfI1Wn93?si=yX2aQN2tREOxL7d1ztcf2g)


	19. Your Love Found Its Way Back To Me

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Richie returns home and everything goes back to normal. He keeps in contact with Beverly, Ben and Bill. He even gets a job! While doing said job, he happens to run into a certain someone...

Once Richie got back home, Stan and Mike had a small welcome back party waiting on him when he walked through the door. Stan had called Ben, Beverly, and Bill on facetime, so they could celebrate too.

It took Richie no time to get back into his natural rhythm. In two months, he was able to get a job as a system installer for DIRECTV, he loved every minute of it. Good benefits, great pay and the occasional cute guy or girl to flirt with.

Every night before he went to sleep, he saved a new song he came across on his Spotify to the playlist he was making for Eddie and played his video, falling asleep to his voice.

He still hadn’t reached out to him, no matter how bad he wanted to, he followed Ben’s advice.

🎶🎶🎶🎶🎶

He was over the moon, cheering as he watched Beverly and Ben win the recording contract on ‘The Voice’. He called them immediately. “Oh my fucking God!!! I’m so fucking happy for you guys right now!!!” Richie yelled.

Mike and Stan were cheering the background. “Thank you so much guys! Beverly is a complete mess right now; she can barely talk.” Ben switched his phone’s camera in her direction, showing Beverly blubbering to her daughter.

Her cheeks tear stained, her eyes red, and her nose snotty. “I love you so much baby, mommy loves you. She did this for you baby…”

Ben switched the camera back and shook his head. “Cut her some slack Ben, you two did just win a major competition.” Richie said, smiling.

Stan snatched the phone from Richie and yelled, “You two fucking deserved to win, that Alyssa chick was trash!”

Richie snatched the phone back. “She was not trash; you’re just saying that because she took my spot.”

Stan crossed his arms. “You goddamn right I’m saying that because she took your spot and because she’s trash.”

He walked away with his nose in the air and Richie laughed. “Hey Richie, we gotta go! Tons of interviews coming our way. We love you guys!” Ben said.

Richie sent him a two finger salute. “We love you too! Congrats again! Be sure to name your first song after me!”

Ben laughed and said, “There’s already a song named after you.”

“Nothing wrong with another one.” Richie said easily.

Ben shook his head and smiled. “Bye Richie.”

Stan stormed back into the room, with his finger up. “And another thing—”

Richie looked at him. “Ben’s gone Stan…they have interviews to do.”

Stan closed his mouth and put his finger down. “Oh…well I’ll just write it down and bring it up to him at a later date.”

Richie rolled his eyes and walked out the room. “Just forget it Stan…”

“No! I will not forget it!” Stan argued.

🎶🎶🎶🎶🎶

Richie closed his eyes and breathed out. “Be patient and wait until he reaches out to you.” He whispered to himself, drumming his fingers against the steering wheel.

Whenever he had the urge to message Eddie, he would close his eyes and repeat those the same words Ben told him that night.

It was beginning to become his mantra. He was currently outside a small housing area, waiting for the person to confirm they were home, so that he could install their satellite system.

His phone dinged and he reached for it. He read the message saying the person was now home. “Alright…let’s get this done.” He grabbed his equipment and walked up to the door. He knocked once. No answer.

“Ugh! Come on man!” He knocked again; this time harder. “Hello! I’m here to install your satellite! Hello!” He began banging on the door.

The door finally flew open and a familiar angry voice yelled out, “I said I was fucking coming!”

Richie’s jaw dropped as he was met the intense gaze of the one and only Eddie Kaspbrak. Eddie’s eyes softened. “Richie?” Richie’s brain couldn’t respond quick enough to stop his body.

His arms shot out and wrapped around Eddie, pulling him into a tight embrace. He pressed his lips roughly against his, earning a surprised gasp from the smaller man. His tongue immediately slipped inside and began exploring Eddie’s mouth.

Richie felt Eddie quickly wrap his arms around him and moan into the kiss. Richie walked them into Eddie’s house and closed the door with his foot.

 _Holy fuck! Is he naked?!_ Richie thought as he caressed his bare back.

Eddie nipped at his bottom lip, moving one of his hands up to Richie’s curls and pulled hard. “Shit Eddie…” Richie hissed. Eddie licked his lips and smiled. He pulled again, making Richie’s knees buckle.

Richie leaned down and placed his hands behind Eddie’s thighs, hoisting him up around his waist.

 _Awww damn...he has a towel on. Disappointed!!_ he thought as his fingers brushed past Eddie’s towel.

Eddie locked his legs around Richie’s waist and continued tonguing him down. “Mmmm…missed…you…so…much…Rich…” Eddie said between kisses.

Richie could feel his dick straining against his jeans. He pressed Eddie against the wall. “I missed you too.” he whispered against his lips.

They dove back in, drinking each other’s moans, Eddie sucking on Richie’s bottom lip and Richie running his tongue across his top one.

Richie pulled back for air and rested his forehead against Eddie’s. “What happened to you? You said you would keep in touch.”

Eddie moved his head back to look at him. “My mom cut off my phone shortly after I quit the show.”

He tapped Richie’s arm and Richie gently put him down. Eddie began moving towards the stairs. “Let me go throw something on really quick.”

Richie caught him by the arm. “I mean I don’t mind if you decided to stay like this…” he bit his lip as he raked his eyes over Eddie’s chest and torso.

Eddie rolled his eyes and smiled. “Of course you wouldn’t…but I’m starting to get cold so that’s why—”

“I can keep you warm!” Richie blurted out.

Eddie pulled his arm out of Richie’s grip. “Don’t you have a job to do?”

Richie suddenly remembered that he needed to install Eddie’s satellite. “Oh right…shit…well yeah you go put some clothes on mister…what are you trying to do here? Seduce me so you don’t have to pay your activation fee?”

Eddie laughed and turned back to head up the stairs. “Well I was thinking maybe there was a different way I could pay.” He looked over his shoulder and winked.

Richie pulled at his collar. “Shit! Did it suddenly get hot in here or is it just me?”

Eddie giggled. “Just you and your friend there…” Eddie pointed to the bulge in Richie’s pants.

Richie blushed and moved to cover it up. “Go upstairs and get dressed will ya!”

Eddie snorted as he retreated up the stairs. Richie ran over to Eddie's sink and splashed water on his face and neck. “Get it together Tozier! You have a job to do.”

Richie began working on getting everything ready to install the satellite and Eddie came happily bounding down the stairs. Richie did a double take when he saw what Eddie had on.

**_Those fucking red shorts._ **

“Eddie…if you want me to do my job proficiently, then I highly suggest you go change.”

Eddie looked down at his clothes. “What? It’s just a t-shirt and shor—”

“Shorts! Yeah I know, but those shorts Eds…should come with their own warning.” Richie said, shaking his head and turning back to finish his task.

Eddie smiled and sat down on his couch. He looked down at his hands. “So…did you see the video?”

Feigning ignorance, Richie continued working. “Video? What video?” He was met with silence. He moved his head around to see what Eddie was doing, only to be face to face with the doe-eyed man.

Eddie looked down at his mouth. “You’ve seen it.” Richie fully turned around and smirked.

“How do you know that?”

Eddie crossed his arms and popped his hip out. Richie tried to fight back a swoon but lost miserably. “Eds…I just love when you do that.”

Eddie cupped his chin and looked into his eyes. “Being trapped in a hotel with you for almost a month, I observed some of your tics. When you get really nervous or anxious, you either have to say something really inappropriate, bounce your leg or you fidget with your glasses.”

Richie wanted to argue back, but he couldn’t because Eddie was right. “And when you’re lying…you always chew on the inside of you right cheek.”

“Damn…you’re good…” Richie said, impressed. Eddie pulled him down and kissed him sweetly.

“I know it, now get back to work Rich!” Eddie smacked him on the butt and Richie let out a loud moan.

He clapped a hand over his mouth and flushed a deep red. He heard Eddie gasp. “Richie! Did you just—”

“No!” Richie turned around and Eddie looked down at his crotch, stifling his laugh with his hand. “Okay.”

🎶🎶🎶🎶🎶

Richie was finally able to install Eddie’s satellite after four heated make out sessions, one of those almost ending with Richie cumming in his pants from them dry humping.

Richie noticed that Eddie didn’t bring up what happened to him in those months after he quit the show. If he didn’t want to talk about it, then Richie wasn’t going to push him. “Alright Eds…you now have bomb ass satellite.”

“Bomb ass satellite?” Eddie asked, his eyebrow raised. Richie waved a dismissive hand at him.

“Forget I said that.” Richie pulled a remote out of his bag and began doing a test run.

He felt Eddie come up behind him and wrap his arms around him. He rested his head against his back and sighed. “I’m so sorry that I didn’t get in touch with you sooner Rich. As soon as I was finished getting settled, I was going to get a new phone and let you know I moved here.”

Richie shrugged. “I understand Eddie, you had shit you had to get done.”

Eddie sighed. “So yeah…like I said before, my mother cut off my phone. I had to use a…a…a—” Eddie gagged. “a payphone…”

Richie laughed to himself. “I’m surprised you didn’t go into shock from having to touch something covered in so many germs.”

He felt Eddie squeeze him slightly. “I’m surprised too, but I called my good friend Connor…that’s who you see in the video with me. He let me stay with him until I turned 18, so that my mother couldn’t force me to come home.”

“Happy belated birthday by the way…” Richie said, rubbing Eddie’s arm.

“Thanks Rich…you’re in one of my birthday gifts now.”

Richie looked around in awe. “Wha--really now? Who is it from?”

He felt Eddie smile against his back. “My dad. Turns out he left me some money in an account that my mother couldn’t touch. I couldn’t touch it either until I turned eighteen…”

Richie gasped and turned around in Eddie’s arms. “Wow…it must’ve been a good sum of money because this place is nice.”

Eddie nodded. “It was. I think that’s why my mom wanted me to come home so badly, so that she could control the money.”

Eddie tensed up. “She tried her hardest to get me to come home Richie…she really tried. She threatened to call the police and say that Connor kidnapped me, but I reminded her that if she did that, then I could have her thrown in prison for all the shit she did to me.”

Richie finished testing the TV in the living room and gestured for them to sit down. Eddie sat down and continued talking.

“I thought she would’ve backed off after that, but no. She called his house damn near everyday…every time she called it was something new. She was either very sick, or yelling a new threat at me, calling me all sorts of homophobic slurs…the phone calls that almost had me crawling back were the ones where she was being very sweet to me…telling me that she loved me and how much she missed me…”

Eddie put his face in his hands. Richie wrapped his arms around him and rested his head on top of his when Eddie started sobbing. “She’s so heartless Rich…she tried to use love and kind words just to get me back so she could do God knows what to me…”

Richie kissed the top of his head. “Well it doesn’t matter what she did now because you didn’t fall for it. You are so strong Eddie…so strong and brave…I’m so fucking proud of you.”

Eddie sniffled and wiped his face. “Thank you Rich. I gotta give you some of the credit though. Without you, I probably wouldn’t have been able to stand up to her like I did.”

Richie shook his head. “No, I think you had it in you all along, I really think you would’ve stood up to her even if I wasn’t in the picture.”

Eddie laughed lightly. “I’m glad you have that much faith in me Rich…”

Richie smiled. “I’ll always have faith in you, Eds.”

Eddie groaned and sat up. “Stop calling me that…god I hate it when you call me that.”

“You do not! I love all the nicknames I came up with for you!” Richie said, smirking. Eddie shook his head, fighting the smile that was trying to sneak across his face. Richie poked him in the side, causing Eddie snort and flinch away from him.

“Ticklish huh?” Richie reached for him, wiggling his fingers.

“Richie I will fucking end you! Stop!! Ahhhhh!!” Eddie screamed with laughter as Richie tickled him.

Eddie grabbed his wrists and held them firmly so that he couldn’t tickle him anymore. Richie licked his lips and looked down. “So can I ask you a question?”

Eddie nodded. “Sure Rich…”

Richie grabbed his hand, swallowing down all of the nervous tension in his body and said, “Will you be my boyfriend?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Eddie: *flicks Richie's nose* It's about damn time you asked!
> 
> Richie: Ummm...you just did go MIA for 7 months...sooo...
> 
> Eddie:....
> 
> Eddie: Yes, I will be your boyfriend. Now, go test the other TVs to make sure they're working.


	20. Wrap Me Up In Your Love

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Eddie gives Richie a very special birthday present...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is it guys...the end. 😭😭 I am sad that it's over, but so happy that I got it done! 😊😊
> 
> Again, I appreciate every single of you that left kudos, comments, bookmarks, etc. and even if you didn't do either one of those, you are still appreciated because you took the time to read it! ❤❤❤ 
> 
> Thank you guys so much for being here with me on this long journey! 😭

“Heading over to Eddie’s again?” Stan called from the couch in the living room. Richie shrugged on his winter coat.

“Yeah, he said he had something special planned for my birthday.”

Mike sat up and gave him a knowing smile. “Special huh?”

Richie rolled his eyes. “It’s not that, Mike…we’ve only been dating for a month. If Eddie wanted to do that, he would’ve definitely let me know.”

Richie most definitely was not lying about that either. Ever since him and Eddie reconnected and started dating, Eddie has been on him like white on rice.

Their encounters never went beyond giving each other blowjobs. Well actually there was that one time, when Eddie let Richie rub his dick in between his cheeks, that was the fastest Richie ever came…he was so ashamed of himself while Eddie cuddled him and told him how being a one minute man wasn’t a bad thing.

“Eds…being a one minute man is a bad thing.” Richie simply stated.

“Well you never know…it is your birthday, maybe that’s your birthday gift. Birthday sex!” Stan said, sitting up to look at him.

“Bye guys I’m not having this conversation with you two.” Richie opened the door and walked out, hearing Mike singing ‘Birthday Sex’ by Jeremiah out of tune.

🎶🎶🎶🎶🎶

He got in his truck and made his way over to Eddie’s place. As he was walking up to the door, his phone vibrated and looked at it. It was a message from Eddie, telling him that the door was unlocked.

He grabbed the knob and turned it, sure enough it was unlocked. “Eds! Baby! You can’t leave the door unlocked like this, some crazy person could walk in just like I did and do whatever they wanted to you!” Richie said as he stepped into the house.

He locked the door behind him and looked around. He didn’t see Eddie anywhere. “Eds? Eddie…where are you?”

“Up here!” Eddie called out. _Did he sound a little breathless?_ Richie thought as he began to panic and rushed up the stairs. “Eds! Are you okay? Are you having another panic att—”

The rest of Richie’s sentence died on his tongue as he took in what was happening before him. Eddie laying down on the bed, his legs splayed open, giving Richie an excellent view of his fingers working in and out of him.

He had rose petals scattered all over his bed, music softly playing (Richie instantly recognized the song from the playlist he made Eddie) in the background, and a banner hanging up saying, **'Here’s To The Birthday Boy!'**

“Ha—Happy Birthday, R—uhhh Rich…” Eddie moaned.

Richie fell to his knees, the beautiful sight of Eddie stretching him out overwhelming him. “Ed---Eddie…you…” Richie’s voice came out in a hoarse whisper. He cleared his throat. “Eddie…I—”

“Take off your clothes and come here.” Eddie commanded. Richie wasted no time stripping off his coat, sweater, his undershirt and pants.

He took his shoes and threw them in a corner of Eddie’s room. He walked up to the bed and grabbed Eddie’s right leg, peppering kisses from his ankle up to his calf.

Eddie moaned at the soft contact and Richie worked his way up to the inner part of Eddie’s right thigh.

“Don’t think I ever told you this…but I fucking love your thighs…” Richie said, leaving a trail of wet kisses on it.

Eddie chuckled. “I kind of figured out you did just by how you’re always caressing them, licking them, kissing them—”

“Okay…I gave myself away, but can you fucking blame me? Have you seen these things?! You could choke someone out with them! Could you choke me with them?” Richie looked at him seriously.

Eddie stopped what he was doing and raised a brow at him. “Ummm maybe later…right now I want you to…you know…” Richie grabbed Eddie’s left leg and bit down gently on his calf, making the smaller man whimper.

“No I don’t know Eds…I already told you…you have let me know what you want babe…”

Richie moved down Eddie’s leg, kissing and sucking on it. Eddie let out an embarrassing whine when Richie stopped at his perineum. “Are you sure you want me to put my mouth here? I won’t be able kiss you until I brush my teeth…”

Richie rubbed his index finger against it. Eddie exhaled shakily. “I know that babe…that’s why I’m already prepared.” Eddie gestured to his nightstand. Richie huffed a laugh.

On his nightstand, Eddie had two small bottles of lube, baby wipes and tissues, a toothbrush, toothpaste, and mouthwash, a pack of condoms and whipped cream.

Richie grabbed the whipped cream and looked at Eddie. “What’s this for?”

Eddie blushed slightly. “I want you to eat it off of me…”

Richie’s breath hitched. “Really?” Eddie nodded.

“Holy fuck…this is it…I’m pronouncing it now at 9:55PM, on November 7th, I…Richard Wentworth Tozier, have officially died and gone to heaven.” Richie said, looking up at the ceiling. 

Eddie grabbed his shoulders and pulled him forward. “Stop talking and kiss me.” Richie enthusiastically obliged, exploring Eddie’s mouth, relishing in the taste of him.

Eddie reached down and started pulling Richie’s boxer’s down. Richie helped him, getting off the bed to kick them off. He returned to previous position above Eddie, this time slowly grinding his stiff dick against Eddie’s.

Eddie bit down on his bottom lip harder than intended when Richie caused their tips to brush up against each other. He quickly licked his wound as an apology.

Richie sat up and shook the whipped cream can. “Where do you want it first?”

Eddie bit his lip. “It’s your birthday, you get to choose.” Richie sprayed some of the cream on each of Eddie’s nipples.

He swirled his tongue around, thoroughly cleaning the cream off of both of them, being sure to suck on each hardening bud.

Richie sprayed more of the whipped cream on the parts of Eddie he wanted his mouth on the most. His stomach, his hips, his thighs, his dick (he spent a little extra time there) his balls, his perineum, and his hole.

Richie had Eddie a begging mess by the time the can of whipped cream ran out. “Hurry Rich…I need you inside of me…I’m about to go crazy…” Eddie pleaded as Richie got up to go brush his teeth.

Richie jumped back on the bed next to him and propped up on his elbow. “Sooo…” Richie circled Eddie’s already sensitive nipple with his finger. “Do I get to choose position we get to do it in since it’s birthday?”

Eddie bit his lip in contemplation. “I don’t know…you might have me do something crazy like the reverse cowman position or something…”

Richie burst out with laughter. “Cow-what?”

Eddie propped up on his elbow too. “You know! The reverse cowman—”

“You mean the reverse cowgirl position?” Richie said through a fit of giggles.

Eddie frowned. “Whatever…you knew what I was talking about…”

Richie kissed the tip of his nose. “I’m sorry my lovely spaghetti head, you know I can’t go a second without messing with you.”

Eddie lightly smacked his chest. “Stop calling me that and I know…well I know I don’t want to do missionary…too boring.”

Richie tapped on the bed while he thought. Then an idea came to him. “How about we try the spooning position?”

“Isn’t that just for cuddling?” Eddie asked, confused.

Richie booped him on the nose. “You’re so innocent sometimes that you literally kill me, no babe…we can do it in that position too. It’s okay…I’ll talk you through it.”

Eddie nodded and breathed out. “Okay…I trust you Rich…”

Hearing that almost made Richie cry…wait…oh crap here come the waterworks. “You trust me Eds?” Richie sniffled.

Eddie wiped a tear from his face. “Of course Rich…I trust you because I love you.”

That made Richie cry ever harder. “I love you too Eddie…” Eddie kissed his forehead and smiled.

“Alright…what do I need to do?” Richie wiped his face and told Eddie to turn his back to him, gently maneuvering him into the spooning position.

Richie grabbed a condom and then the lube, squeezing a good amount on his fingers. “I know you feel that you’ve already prepped yourself, but I noticed you only used two fingers…I’m clearly a three finger type of guy.”

Eddie looked at him over his shoulder and giggled. “Three fingers huh?” Richie licked the shell of his ear while rubbing his index finger around the rim of his hole.

“You saw it for yourself babe…don’t tell me you forgot?”

Eddie whined as Richie pushed his first finger into him. “I didn’t forget baby.” Richie easily slipped his second finger into him.

He moved his fingers faster. “I don’t know…it seems like you did.”

Richie crooked his fingers up and flicked his wrist, so that he could brush against Eddie’s prostate.

Eddie gasped and cried out, “Uhhhh! No baby! I didn’t forget! Fuck!” Richie kissed the side of his face as he added a third finger.

Eddie tensed a little and sucked in air. “Relax Eds baby…it’ll get better, I promise.” Richie whispered in his ear. Eddie exhaled and relaxed.

Richie held Eddie close as he fucked him with his three fingers. “Mmmm…look at you! Taking my fingers so well…maybe you are ready for this dick.”

Richie nibbled on his earlobe while grinding his dick against Eddie’s back. “I’m ready Rich! Oh god yes! I’m ready!” Eddie panted out.

Richie removed his fingers and grabbed the condom. He tore it open with his teeth and rolled it on, discarding the wrapper on the floor. He reached for the lube and squeezed more on his hand.

He rubbed it on his dick, making sure it well lubricated. Eddie handed him a tissue to clean his hand off and took the lube from him. “Alright baby, I’m about to start pushing in.” Richie said, lining up Eddie’s hole.

“Okay.” Eddie whispered.

Richie had a firm grip on Eddie’s hip as he began pushing in. Richie saw Eddie’s grip on his duvet tighten. “Relax baby…I’m not even all the way in yet.”

“What the fuck?! There’s more! You still have more?!” Eddie yelled.

Richie snorted and laid his forehead against Eddie’s shoulder. “Yeah babe…there’s more.”

Eddie groaned as Richie started pushing in again. “Okay…I got this…I got this…I got—oh fuck!” Richie grunted when he finally bottomed out.

He rubbed Eddie’s hair and kissed the side of his temple. “You did so good baby…the hard part is over…now for the fun to begin.” Richie slowly started rocking his hips, setting a comfortable pace for Eddie.

His grip on Eddie’s hip getting tighter and tighter, the faster his hips went. “Oh yes! So good Rich…you’re so good! You fuck me so good!” Eddie cried out. Richie’s heart was soaring at the fact that Eddie was so talkative.

He loved it when his partners told him how great of a job he was doing. He figures that’s another one of his kinks.

Eddie raised his arm up and grabbed a fistful of his hair. “Fuck!” Richie moaned low as Eddie pulled on his hair. He grabbed Eddie’s inner leg and hooked it around his butt, propping up on his elbow.

He kept a firm hold on Eddie’s thigh as he thrusted deep inside him. “Oh Rich…I’m so close…please touch me! Please!” Eddie begged. Richie let go of his thigh and wrapped his hand around Eddie’s dick.

“Shit! You’re leaking like this for me?” Richie asked, rubbing his palm over Eddie’s tip, marveling at how much pre-cum had leaked from Eddie’s tip.

Eddie bit his lip. “Yes! Only for you baby! Only you can make me leak like this!” Richie stroked Eddie’s dick, using his pre-cum as lubrication.

He kissed Eddie’s ear and began whispering some of the dirtiest things Eddie’s ever heard in his life, in his ear.

“Yes Richie I’m your little cockslut!” Eddie yelled out, cumming hard in Richie’s hand and all over his duvet.

Richie’s breathing began to heavier as his orgasm approached quickly. Eddie still had his hand in his hair and he pulled one last time, making Richie moan his name and spill his seed into the condom.

He thrusted into Eddie a few more times, riding his orgasm out. “Fuckingshitballs…” Richie breathed out against the nape of Eddie’s neck.

Eddie patted his head. “I agree…fuckingshitballs…” Richie laughed and kissed his ear again.

He whimpered from overstimulation when he pulled out, taking the condom off and tying it a knot. He got up to throw it away in the trash.

Eddie seemed to be fast asleep when he crawled back into bed. He moved to pull the duvet over them and Eddie stopped him. “There’s cum on this…let me get another one…”

Eddie tried to move, but he couldn’t seem to move his legs. “Shit Rich…I think you broke my legs.”

“I got it babe…where is it at?” Richie stood up. “The closet, at the top.” Eddie pointed and let his arm flop down on the bed.

Richie went and grabbed the clean duvet, walking back to toss the dirty one on the floor and threw the clean one on top of the bed.

Eddie sighed happily as Richie cuddled up behind him. “I love you Rich…” He turned around and poked his lips out.

Richie leaned in and kissed him. “I love you too Eddie…” Eddie turned around and pressed closer to him.

“Hey babe…” Richie said, kissing Eddie’s shoulder. Eddie made a noise of acknowledgement. “You know what I haven’t said to you in a while?”

Eddie groaned. “Rich…I swear to God!”

Richie grinned wildly and began humping against him. “Are you my new favorite song? Because I’d like to hear you on repeat.”

Eddie pointed to his door. “Get out.”

🎶🎶🎶🎶🎶

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> THE END!! ❤😭❤😭❤

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! ❤💜


End file.
